COVID and the Classroom A strange summer followed spring’s chaos and, finally, the BCWCA training centre is welcoming trainees back to school
By / Jessica Kirby
Photo courtesy of BCWCA
ike the rest of the world, British Columbia felt the strangeness of summer settle in after the initial pandemic panic began to subside and spring faded into the distance. “The summer break was definitely needed after the chaos of the spring,” says Jeff Triggs, executive director for the BCWCA. “It’s nice to get back into a more regular rhythm with school starting here at the association again.”
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“We were ready to start a Level 3 wall and ceiling class on March 26,” Triggs says. “On March 20, the decision was made to put a hold on the class.”
Back in March, just when COVID-19 caused most of British Columbia—including training facilities—to close, postpone, or dramatically reduce services, staff at the BCWCA was preparing for a new influx of students.
“We didn’t know a lot about the virus, society was going into lockdown, and there was no direction yet from the Industry Training Authority (ITA) or WorkSafeBC on whether we should be going ahead or not,” Triggs says. “In addition, a
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To say it was a time of real confusion for many would be an understatement. Provincial health directives were changing daily, and uncertainty around how to approach work on construction sites abounded.
