A program to train students in China to build with wood has now been expanded to Beijing.
Canada Wood College is now offering courses at the Beijing Jingbei Vocational College, highlighting the increased demand for training in the Chinese wood design and construction sectors, B.C. Forests, Mining and Lands Minister Pat Bell announced Wednesday.
"China likes B.C. wood, but also needs construction design, building expertise, and skills training to grow the market and increase demand for our wood products," said Bell. "There are currently 6,000 wood-frame homes under construction or being planned in the greater Beijing region. Canada Wood College training will be instrumental to B.C. lumber taking the dominant share of these new wood-frame construction projects."
Canada Wood College provides training on modern wood-frame building systems for working professionals (engineers, architects, project managers, site supervisors and carpenters) in the construction industry. They usually come to Canada Wood College to upgrade the skills they need when their company is about to take on a wood-frame project.
The college started in Shanghai and was initially sponsored by Canfor. The Canada Wood Group, an industry marketing association, took over management of the college in 2008. Approximately 270 students graduate each from the full-term builder and designer programs. The number of builders and designers trained per year is more than 2,000 when job-site training and one-day design seminars are included.
