Scramble for engineers goes out of province, prompts more calls for local schools

The B.C. government is going beyond its borders to find civil engineers when those jobs could just as well go to local students - if sought after programs were established, say two Prince George

post-secondary representatives.

When a former northern B.C. resident saw a B.C. Transportation Ministry ad on a Toronto university campus seeking civil engineers while walking through Ryerson University, he wondered why.

"I suppose there are no unemployed recent graduates in B.C. with this skill set and ministry staff determined it is essential to travel to Toronto to find new recruits?" he asked.

The sign advertised an information session for students with a focus on geography and civil engineering interested in the ministry's engineer-in-training and technician entry level programs.

"This ad shows that there is definitely a need for engineering technologists in B.C.," said College of New Caledonia (CNC) communications director Randall Heidt.

"We are hopeful that the provincial government will approve our request to establish an engineering technologist program at the College of New Caledonia. We believe that if people train in the North they are more likely to remain in the North."

University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) president George Iwama said visits to Tumbler Ridge, Dawson Creek and Mackenzie show northern B.C. is in a "crisis situation" in terms of finding skilled workers in general.

"Not only that, every time I'm in an airport, another owner of an engineering firm or a consulting company takes me aside and says 'Look, I don't know when you're going to get that engineering program but we're trying to double our company size and we're having to bring people in from China and qualified people from India and the States and South Korea,'" Iwama said.

Transportation ministry communications manager Jeff Knight said in an e-mail the ministry has had difficulty attracting structural engineers for the past several years, so it is also focusing on areas outside of B.C. to attract a larger pool of candidates.

"The recruiting is due to retirements forecast in the coming years," Knight said.

Similar sessions were also held on B.C. campuses last week,

including UNBC.

"The ministry follows the meritorious hiring process outlined in the Public Service Act - it will be hiring the best persons for the positions," said Knight.

Iwama said the provincial government is well aware of the skills shortage in northern B.C. and added economic upswings can mean declining enrollments because people are more interested in making money than going to school.

"There's a potential market for getting on site at the work camps and offering some classes in the off hours," Iwama said.

Advanced education minister Naomi Yamamoto did not return a request for comment Monday.