The top five vocations in B.C. by the number of participants registered in training programs are electrician, carpenter, cooking, plumbing and automotive servicing.
Industry Training Authority executive director Kevin Evans said population patterns are a big reason for the ranking.
“The average age of some of these trades is in their 40s,” Evans said. “There are more grey hairs on the job site than perhaps ever before and they’re retiring now and they’re going to be retiring in the future.”
It’s predicted there will be a shortage of 160,000 skilled workers by 2015, including both retirements and new economic activity.
“The real trick is to make sure we’re training for the jobs that are going to be in demand,” Evans said.
There will be demand for “any number of other trades” in northern B.C.
“We’re on the cusp in British Columbia right now of quite a development boom and there are concerns that we’re not going to have enough people to build those projects and run those projects,” Evans said.
Within a couple of years of getting a journeyman’s ticket, “serious money” can be made. What’s more, there’s not student loan to deal with as apprentices “earn while they learn.”
“There’s never been a better time for a young person to think there is more to post-secondary than, with all due respect, a university degree,” Evans said.
