Trades school proposal taken to city council

The rush is on to convert Canfor's now-closed Rustad sawmill into a trades training school.

With the need for skilled labour growing at an unprecedented pace, the proposal's private sector proponents hope to see the first students take courses at the facility in slightly less than a year, city council members were told Monday night.

Council responded by agreeing to provide a letter of support in the quest to convince the provincial government to provide $10 million - a matching contribution equal to the value of the land and buildings at the site.

"We commit to completing that work within the $10-million amount," BID Group CEO Brian Fehr said during a presentation. "Ongoing funding would be needed to equip and operate trade programs, although some of the equipment needed would be donated as well."

Other employers in forestry, mining and energy, are being encouraged to come on board.

"We expect we'll find very strong support, as virtually every sector is struggling with the same issues we are," Fehr said.

Canfor announced the mill's permanent closure in early December, nearly two-and-a-half years after it was temporary shuttered with the downturn in the forest sector.

The sawmill, which had operated for 62 years prior to the closure in July 2009, 10 of them under Canfor ownership, and was deemed too inefficient and costly to continue to operate.

But it provides the perfect setting for a trade school in the opinion of Canfor senior vice-president Alistair Cook.

"One of the things we see as unique in this property is that the trade school would operate as part of a working industrial complex, where students would have access to real-world business settings to learn and apply their trades," Cook told council.

"There is an energy system on the site that could provide heat and electricity, making it the greenest campus in North America while also providing a hands-on learning opportunity for thermal oil and electrical technician students.

"If a third party were to operate our former planer on the site, it could provide real-world operating exposure for trainee planermen, electricians and other trades.

"Many similar examples would exist on the property and we think that is incredibly valuable in producing work-ready graduates with skills that can be immediately applied in our industry settings. There already is a mobile shop operating there with five certified mechanics."

The project would build on an already "excellent educational infrastructure in Prince George, which is really the educational hub of the North," Canfor CEO Don Kayne said.

College of New Caledonia communications manager Randall Heidt said the college has met with proponents and are continuing to work out the details.

"It's early in the process," Heidt said Tuesday.