Industry & Trades Fall 2018 by Prince George Citizen

Industry And trades Fall 2018

Product of

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Inside

Labour shortage.................................................................................................................................pg 4 BDC reports on the challenges ahead Driving home the builders message......................................................... pg 6 for 60 years

CNC completes some heavy duties........................................................... pg 10 New building means new future for mechanics Hiring a forest of new professionals......................................... pg 12 Seeing an opportunity through................................................................... pg 14 Automotive glass class now underway at CNC Local water shortage affects................................................................... pg 15 farming, industry, ecosystem

Cover photo: Ryan Bachand, a heavy duty mechanic student at CNC, explains how the hydrostatic transmission training simulator is used in the new heavy mechanical trades facility CNC to Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, Citizen photo by Brent Braaten.

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Labour Shortage

BDC reports on the challenges ahead Written by Frank Peebles In a region already booming with natural resource activity, and about to get new major work boosts underway like full-stream ahead Site C construction and the LNG Canada megaproject, this area is vulnerable to a new warning issued by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). The national financial institution is constantly taking the fiscal temperature of the nation and their new report entitled Labour Shortage: Here To Stay talks about how difficult it is for businesses to find enough people to do the work that will make them viable. The good news for northern B.C. and the Prince George area in particular, is the unemployment rate is already positive and its probably about to be even better. The bad news is, the big proponents might take so many of

No matter what your business, the numbers are unforgiving for the decade ahead. There are too few people available for the job vacancies of the nation. – Pierre CLéroux

the available trades people, for example, that the local plumbing company or electrician firm might not have many workers left when someone needs their sink fixed or wants to wire their new house. Going further, the service industry like retail stores and restaurants might have few people available to be cashiers and table servers if the offer of higher wages draws candidates away to more lucrative positions.

No matter what your business, said BDC chief economist and vice-president of research Pierre Cléroux in conversation with The Citizen-Industry & Trades, the numbers are unforgiving for the decade ahead. There are too few people available for the job vacancies of the nation. One of the worst situations is British Columbia. According to the BDC’s coast to coast research, 39 per cent of small- and mediumsized businesses are already having difficulty finding new workers, but in B.C. the number was 45 per cent. Only Atlantic Canada at 50 per cent was feeling a worse pinch. Moreover, according to the more than 1,200 surveyed business owners, the pressure is getting worse and 65 per cent of those businesses hurting for employees are low-growth companies. When businesses can’t perform at their natural capacity, it slows the overall economy. Cléroux said B.C. was actually the victim of its own success. “There are two reasons,” for the dearth of employees in B.C., he explained. “The first one, across Canada, is the aging population. Many people are retiring, more than young people

entering the labour force. Unfortunately this is not a temporary situation, it’s going to last for the next decade. “In British Columbia, on top of it, you have had a very growing economy for the past several years, you’ve had more than three percent growth each of the past four years. The economy is growing, business is growing, but at the same time the labour force is not increasing as much as it has in the past. So the combination of the two makes it harder to find people in British Columbia.” He said B.C.’s data shows a large influx of new people to British Columbia, to the tune of 50,000 to 60,000 annually in recent years, but instead of all going to work, many of them are retirees who are heading to the beauty of British Columbia to specifically not work. However, said Cléroux, even within that apparent strikeout there are some solid hits available. When traditional labour forces are depleted, the smart entrepreneur will innovate their human resources practices and look at unconventional pools of workers. A retiree might be perfect to fill certain roles in your business. “Smaller firms like to hire younger people with less experience and skills, and they train them. They don’t have a choice,” Cléroux said, outlining how it usually goes for the small and medium class of businesses. “Another strategy is, they use technology to reduce their need for workers. Automation is not always possible, but it is a strategy for some. And technology is getting more sophisticated and cheaper as well.”

Technology may mean robotics or mechaniare already on Canadian soil but find large zation, in some cases, but might simply be obstacles to employment. If a business owner smarter cash registers or more efficient webneeded positions filled, and went seeking site that allows clients and customers to get those from any underemployed pools of some of their needs met without a person’s labour, the response could be dramatically intervention. positive. There is no employee like the loyal, “Another way (to navigate the worker shortgrateful employee. age) is to tap into The BDC is advothe less represented cating for changes Don’t think the groups of people in at the governthe labour force, and ment level, but it situation is going to that includes immiwas incumbent on improve in the next grants, people who business owners to months; it’s not. You are older and maybe do as much of the already retired but innovating as poshave to adjust to how some are interested sible on their own. you do your business. to go back to the Cléroux also said labour force, people it was partially the You have to adjust with disabilities, responsibility of the how you do your HR. Indigenous people,” job-seeker to make Cléroux said. “We themselves known You have to improve have to change our and acquire what your employee value views, our percepskills they could proposition. tions as business to be useful to the owners, because marketplace. – Pierre CLéroux we will need to tap “Many businesses into those groups as believe that the well.” shortage of labour is a temporary issue, He said the immigrant population reprewhich it’s not,” he warned. “Don’t think the sented an interesting opportunity because situation is going to improve in the next many new Canadians cannot find jobs. They months; it’s not. You have to adjust to how

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you do your business. You have to adjust how you do your HR. You have to improve your employee value proposition. You used to have to do marketing of your products and services, and rightly so, that’s still the case, but now you also have to market yourself as a good employer, improve your image as an employer in order to recruit people.” The alternative is possible slowdowns in your business activity. It can hurt cash flow, it can hurt on your delivery of service, it can prevent partnerships, it can create a spiral of sluggish business results that dissuade customers and dissuade potential employees from even applying. The BDC study is available with recommendations on how to spot these problems and work through them. PHOTO RIGHT: BDC chief economist and vicepresident of research Pierre Cléroux. Photo submitted.

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Driving home the builders’ message for

60 Years

PHOTO LEFT: Five executive members were appointed by the newly formed Prince George House Builders Association at its organization meeting. Seated, from the left are Norm Kelsey, by-laws committee chairman; George Creuzot (second from the left), president; George Olson, secretary; and Erwin Lindenbach, membership chairman. Standing are Wayne Thompson, in charge of programs, National House Builders vice-president Bernard and J.W. Dobson of Western Aluminum Products. Photo Submitted

Written by Frank Peebles There was a housing shortage in Prince George in the middle of the 20th century. It was a place caught in a supply-demand clamp. There was an influx of military personnel during the Second World War, there were new highway and rail connections that brought new industry and new people for business, and finally the pulp mills were established with a surge of new residents. From the 1940s to the ‘60s, there were major upsurges in the number of people relative to the number of homes. The creation of houses is tantamount to the creation of a community, and in the case of Prince George it happened on such a scale that it transformed a small town into a formidable city in only a few decades. Today, the economic momentum of the region makes Prince George a de facto capital city, so the construction and renovation of the city’s homes is of the utmost importance for local residents and prospective residents. Helping to guide and shape the home-builder industry is the local chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association. They launched their Prince George presence 60 years ago and have been a guiding force ever since. The first meeting of the CHBA-PG had a Creuzot at the table. There has never, in the ensuing decades, been a time when a Creuzot

wasn’t an active member and usually always at the board level. “My uncle (George) was one of the founding members not only of the Prince George chapter but the British Columbia chapter, and our family has been building here and involved since the beginning. Uncles, cousins, my father (Gary), my grandfather (Henry), a lot of us have been there directly,” said Allen Creuzot, one of today’s third generation of builders in that family, as well as cousin Wade. “I’m a member in long-standing. I served myself as president two different times, and I have been on the board for 20 years. I served on different committees and served on the provincial board as well.” He has seen the association play a heavy role in the advancement of the building and development industry in this area. The CHBA has been a leading hand of guidance in the way houses get built and the way entire neighbourhoods get planned, which radiates into the overall functionality of the city. One can think of it as symbolically important that the 60th anniversary threshold is crossed with Joe Hart as the local chapter’s president. The CHBA-PG is responsible for the entire northern region and as a Quesnel home builder, Hart is the first chapter president who comes from outside of Prince George. He said Prince George has an influence on the

entire region, but the surrounding communities also have their parts to play in the economic fortunes of the north. It is important for him to keep the channels of communication flowing throughout the broader area. It is also important to him that the north use its considerable geographic voice at the provincial table of discussion. “The CHBA works hard with levels of government to try and make sure that policy doesn’t affect house prices too much,” he said. “We try to keep housing affordable for our clients. From the north we do send - and I’m one of them - people down to Vancouver and Victoria to work directly with various agencies who influence policy. We work right at the base of code development, keeping in mind that the north is not the same as down in the Lower Mainland. I’ve been involved for about 12 years on these issues, as a voice from the north is vitally important, to make them aware of the differences in our reality up here.” He said the obvious differences were climate and rurality, and how that relates to construction seasons, the best materials, the labour pool, and even how a project is therefore financed. “But,” said Hart, “a lot of things are not things you’d think of, even if you were a home builder yourself, if all you’d ever done was work in the Vancouver area. We don’t require as much engineering in our approach to con-

struction in the north. We address codes much more simply, so that has to be factored into the situations where policies are being devised for the whole province. Also, we don’t have materials as readily available to us, so when the code requires upgrades to HVAC systems, for example, we have to think about heating systems going out in the middle of winter and do we have the code-approved equipment at the ready? “We also have a shortage of building inspectors in the north. We have a shortage of energy advisors to address the new STEP Code. There are problems around all sorts of things like that. They (in Vancouver-Victoria) take all that for granted down there where there’s a lot of acess to those resources.” Creuzot added that local builders are helped right in our own community by the CHBA and it translates into better homes and better prices for local residents. “They have helped in different avenues of meeting people, helping us (home builders) know about new products coming on stream, getting a firsthand look at new innovations, the opportunity to help shape different areas of development. “What’s seriously important is the networking the CHBA helps us do with the different members, not only the other builders but also suppliers, sub-trades, different service providers, its a great way for networking. And

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the education component is import, they help with that. And we get firsthand information on code changes and whatnot.” Hart said when you look back to when the first CHBA chapters were established all across Canada, the spirit was always the same. It was a roomful of professional tradespeople who saw value in working together at a table that would not directly benefit themselves but would benefit their overall profession, often looking so far down the road that it was for the next generations of builders and anonymous home-buyers.

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“We get together for what’s best for all of us, not just our own individual interest, so the fact its been going on here 60 years-plus is testament to the care we have for the products we’re called upon to provide for our clients, and for the client the product isn’t a disposable thing, it’s the home where they raise their families or grow old or invest for their future.” PHOTO BELOW: Alen Creuzot, president of Creuzot Homes, whose uncle was one of the founding members of the Prince George and British Columbia chapters of the Canadian Home Builders Association. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

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CNC Completes Some Heavy Duties

The new heavy mechanical trades facility at CNC. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten.

New building means new future for mechanics Written by Frank Peebles The learning landscape just changed, for the industry and trades professionals who work out on the geographic landscape. The College of New Caledonia just cut the ribbon on an $18-million facility that will make CNC one of the go-to learning facilities in Western Canada for aspiring heavy-duty mechanics. The facility opened to a pilot cohort of students this September, in preparation for a full intake in the coming semesters. CNC has had a Heavy-Duty Mechanics (HDM) program since day one when it opened on Lheidli T’enneh First Nation territory in 1968. It outgrew its shop on campus and moved to a leased space nearby at 22nd and Nicholson, but outgrew that as well. This new facility is a response to that continued evolution. Frank Rossi, dean of CNC’s School of Trades & Technologies, said the new building was built for the future, and built to make a statement as well about the work going on inside. “The weathered steel façade was inspired by the caterpillar tracks on heavy-duty equipment,” he explained. “Also, the building’s

appearance is tough, and acts like a sundial with shadows cast on the panels getting longer and shorter throughout the day and seasons. Of course B.C.-sourced wood is prominent throughout the building. Significant natural daylight is located in all teaching areas, and the students get a great view.” As a third-generation HDM himself, he said, he personally appreciates some of the features. He said “there is also under-floor heating throughout the building which is preferred by the students when they are required to work on the floor underneath equipment – something I wish I had when I was back pulling wrenches.” CNC’s president, Henry Reiser, said the opening of this facility was particularly exciting for him, as he was in his position from conception through to completion, and also came from a background of working with his hands. “As Frank said, my father is a trades person, I am a trades person, my son is a trades person. I personally know how important skilled workers are to the economy not only of B.C. but of all of Canada,” Reiser said. “This is a monumental day for CNC. Heavy mechanics

is a trade in high demand, which in turn has led to the growth of the program here. That of course comes with its challenges as we slowly outgrew the building it was housed in on Nicholson Street. The original heavy-duty mechanics building was on this very spot in the ‘60s and was used to educate students until 2011. Now we have a new building and it is an even nicer space. This new facility is 25,000 square feet in size, which is 75 per cent larger than the previous facility. It is also on track to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.” Some of the bill for th new facility came from CNC’s own budget, but a bit more than $10-million came from provincial government and $6.9-million from the federal government. Local MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike Morris (as well as John Rustad and Coralee Oakes, who also have CNC campuses in their ridings) and MP Todd Doherty got the project from idea to fully budgeted, and the plan was continued when the NDP-Green coalition formed government during construction. The provincial Minister of Advanced Education, Skills & Training, Melanie Mark, was on hand at the ribbon cutting along with the aforementioned MLAs, federal officials, and/or their representatives. Mark was asked if this building would put CNC - already the fourth largest trades training institution in the province - on the map. “You’re using my line,” Mark said with a smile. She is in part Nisga’a and Gitxsan by heritage, and in addition to these northern roots also grew up in a logging and fishing family. “I want College of New Caledonia to be the education destination of choice (for trades),” she said. “We heard that 40 per cent of trades students are getting their training in heavyduty mechanical up here. We know that when we build 21st century buildings that you’re going to promote 21st century training and that students are going to get 21st century jobs. So we really want this to be a destination of choice. I was really glad to see UNBC here (the university’s president Dan Weeks and provost/vice-president academic Dan Ryan were both in attendance at the facility’s opening), because this is about partnerships. UNBC has its signature programs, and CNC is very proud to be a trades training post-secondary institution in B.C. A 75 per cent increase in this building is going to be huge.” She noted that UNBC’s burgeoning wood innovation master’s programs would certainly be a natural evolution for some students starting out their education in CNC trades cohorts, in addition to the conjoined programs operated together by the two institutions. Several people from the private sector’s local industries were also in attendance, interested in the building due to their labour force requirements. This building would be providing employees into their sectors. “I know this (construction of the new HDM

building) is a call to action from industry, as well,” said Mark. “Students need to learn on the best, by the best, in order to do their jobs successfully. Students now have the opportunity for that hands-on learning experience. We know that the previously leased facilities were outdated and at capacity. It’s critical that we prepare our trades students with the skills and knowledge that industry and employers are calling for. We are preparing students to enter careers in forestry, mining, and transportation sectors to support a prosperous northern economy. I know this building is being short-named the Transportation Building because it is all about wheels and tracks but we know that heavy-duty equipment that you’ll be fixing is reliant out in the bush and out in the mines.” Ryan Bachand, 18, is a Kelly Road Secondary School graduate who knows in his skin and bones what the new building represents. He started his trades training while still a high school student when he got into the Career Technical Centre program co-operated by School District 57 and CNC. He was jammed into tight, inconvenient, inadequate and less safe spaces, but now gets to complete his training on state of the art education equipment in a room that can accommodate all his student colleagues and their projects without compromise. “As a student, I appreciate the work that everyone has done to improve my learning and further my education with this brand new building,” Bachand told the dignitaries on behalf of the HDM student body. “I’m very happy and excited to be able to learn in this new building as it was a big upgrade from our previous building on Nicholson. The last shop we were in wasn’t very big, it didn’t have a lot of room, especially with trying to fit three, four classes in. It was very tight and you could say you got pretty close to the people around you. The new building has a lot more bays and a lot more room, better for bringing in more equipment, and a lot easier to move it around. The tools and the teaching areas will be a lot more efficient, and better for the intense situations you get in when things are on the line. We can’t also forget the new shop safety.” Privately, he told The Citizen-Industry & Trades, the high ceilings were especially exciting because they had the headroom for the truly heavy-duty machines this area commonly uses out on job sites. “I was hinting at the teachers. I was like c’mon, we need some more equipment, bigger equipment, we need to learn, we need to get a bigger knowledge base. It’s a lot easier now to bring in the excavators, the tree processors. Before, we couldn’t do that, it wasn’t high enough, there wasn’t room for it.” The 2018 Labour Market Outlook forecasts approximately 6,100 job openings for trades occupations in northern British Columbia over the next 10 years, including 1,600 in this general region.

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Hiring A Forest of New Professionals Written by Frank Peebles The Council of Forest Industries is already planting the seeds of future foresters. In addition to silviculture, in addition to fiscal health for forest companies, COFI is also leading the fostering of new professionals working in and around the many facets of the forest industry. The nationwide labour shortage is especially acute in British Columbia due, ironically but inextricably, to a robust provincial economy. (A deeper look at this overall issue is featured on Page 4.) COFI is already putting the call out for youth to choose forestry as a career path, or for people looking for a change to consider the forest sector’s many options of interest. “Electricians, scientists, mechanics, innovators, operators, engineers, foresters – these are the people that will grow healthy forests and expand the B.C. economy,” said a statement issued by COFI. “With 50 per cent of the workforce retiring in the coming decade, the forest industry is creating jobs and careers, and discovering innovative new ways to use wood.” According to the council - which stands as one of the world’s strongest voices in the forest sector and represents some of the Prince George region’s biggest and longest established employers, in the production of lumber, pulp and paper, panels, energy and engineered wood products - the industry will be hiring for 25,000 new positions in the next 10 years.

“The forest industry needs bright, young minds and our industry offers diverse career opportunities in manufacturing, environmental management, technology, trades and professional services,” said Susan Yurkovich, COFI president and CEO. “This is an industry with a strong history and bright future. Forestry generates 140,000 total jobs in B.C. while leading the world in sustainable forestry practices. We are proud to support the next generation in continuing their education in forestry and advancing further research and innovation.” One of the most attractive features of the forest industry is its future. It is literally growing. Sustainability is rooted right in the northern soil and reaches to the B.C. sky. COFI has an active classroom program for north-central schools. It includes class visits, hands-on workshops, multi-day orientations, and teaching resources for teachers to use in the classroom. For more information, contact COFI’s Forest Education Manager, Jim Costley at forest.education@cofi.org. Scholarships are also awarded annually to some of the most promising students taking post-secondary studies in forest-related fields. This work dovetails into the cutting edge certificate and degree options available through local education institutions like UNBC and CNC, supplemented by organizations like the BC Forest Safety Council and Association of BC Forest Professionals.

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Seeing an opportunity through Automotive glass class now underway at CNC Written by Frank Peebles CNC could see clearly that there was a crack in their trades menu. The College of New Caledonia is filling that in with a strong new student bond, not just glazing it over. The Prince George campus is about to become home to an Automotive Glass Technician Program, complete with apprentice certification. “This program marks the first trade at CNC to use a blended online and face-to-face model,” said Frank Rossi, CNC’s dean of Trades and Technologies. “The 16 week course will see students complete 15 weeks online with the last week spent in the shop at CNC applying their knowledge in a practical setting. This online model allows students to get their certification without having to leave work for long periods of time and makes it more accessible to students outside the Prince George area.” One of the program’s instructors is a lifelong resident of northern B.C. who knows well how it is to live and work in a rural area while aspiring to be a trades professional. Ken Rowell grew up in the remote Grassy

Plains area before settling in Prince George as a full-service automotive care specialist. He also chose to apply his trades education and business experience to the next generations of local learners. “Blended delivery can really enhance the apprenticeship experience,” said Rowell. “This allows an apprentice to spent more time learning at their job while still being able to develop a network of peers outside of their workplace.” Automotive glass technicians are in high demand in northern B.C. CNC has opened two sections of the program. The first one got underway on Sept. 24 with registered students from local glass shops, dealerships and communities as far away as Terrace. It just goes to show, said Rossi, that CNC administration listens and responds to the input they receive from the private sector working in this area. “CNC is responsive to the industry needs of the communities we serve,” he said. For more information about the program, contact CNC Trades by calling 250-561-5804 or sending an email to trades@cnc.bc.ca.

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Local Water ShortagE affected farming, industry, ecosystem

Written by Frank Peebles If the forest fires weren’t an indication, and the vague notion that the yard didn’t need to be mown so often, the word is official. This region is in a drought. It isn’t just an inconvenience to homeowners wanting unfettered lawn sprinkling and driveway car washing. It threatens mine operations, affects the operational hydrology of forests, and critically affects farming. Ecosystems and Indigenous ways of life can be especially stressed by any extreme changes in local environmental conditions such as a prolonged drought. “Despite rainfall over the past few weeks, streamflows in the central and northern regions of British Columbia are well below normal and continue to decline,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. It means the following regions are now all simultaneously at the “very dry” level represented by the province’s Level 3 designation: Central Coast, Northwest, Upper

“If freeze-up in these regions occurs before streams, soil moisture and groundwater levels recharge, there is a risk of drought continuing into next year.” – Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

Fraser East, Upper Fraser West, Middle Fraser, Nechako and Peace. Two northern regions, Stikine and Skeena-Nass, are at drought Level 4 or extremely dry. “If freeze-up in these regions occurs before streams, soil moisture and groundwater levels recharge, there is a risk of drought continuing into next year,” said the ministry. “While cooler weather in these regions has improved stream temperatures and reduced stress on fish populations, continued very low streamflows can cause fish stranding and inhibit fall spawning species, including salmon and bull trout, from reaching spawning locations.” Level 3 drought conditions call for voluntary water-use reductions from surface-

Water conservation tips: At home: * Limit outdoor watering. * Don’t water during the heat of the day or when it’s windy. * Consider planting drought-tolerant vegetation. * Take shorter showers. * Don’t leave the tap running (i.e. while brushing teeth). * Install water-efficient showerheads, taps and toilets. On the farm: * Implement an irrigation scheduling program using real-time weather data. * Schedule irrigation to match crop needs and soil storage capacity. * Improve water system efficiencies and check for leaks. * Focus on high-value crops and livestock. For industry: * Reduce non-essential water use. * Recycle water used in industrial operations. * Use water-efficient methods and equipment.

water and groundwater users, including municipal, agricultural and industrial users. If voluntary reductions of water use are not sufficient to maintain flows above critical levels, the ministry may consider regulating water usage under the Water Sustainability Act. “Water conservation is everyone’s respon-

sibility,” said the ministry’s statement. “Many communities in B.C. are prepared to deal with water supply shortages and low stream-flow conditions, and have drought management plans and water conservation programs already in place.” The provincial government has a comprehensive website devoted to helping farmers and ranchers address a major water shortage like this. It touches on livestock needs, soil impacts, irrigation practices, and other management tips. The website, with its many links to information, is located within the Ministry of Agriculture website. For fast access, keyword search “Drought In Agriculture” on the Government of BC’s home page search bar.

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