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The Immigrant Skilled Trades Employment Program (ISTEP) is a pilot project to help landed immigrants build careers in British Columbia's construction industry and provide employers with skilled trades' workers.
The skills shortage in British Columbia is an everyday reality for employers in the industry. Contractors struggle to meet the demands of substantial sector growth with a limited workforce. Contractors are recruiting from other countries to try and fill their needs, while here in B.C. immigrants, a significant provincial resource, face barriers to training and employment.
Immigrants who have experience in construction or who want to start a career in the construction industry will be matched up with employers who have jobs. Immigrants will be required to have a standard of English that ensures they are capable of doing their job well and safely. They will be paid at industry standards according to their skill levels.
Job Coaches who are qualified trades people capable of assessing skills and job potential, and who understand the labour needs of industry, will match suitable immigrants and employers. Only immigrants assessed as job-ready will be presented to employers. The Job Coaches will also work closely with immigrant agencies that will refer clients to the program.
ISTEP was developed through a partnership between the BC Construction Association (BCCA) and the Construction Sector Council (CSC) and is funded by the Government of Canada's Foreign Credential Recognition Program.
The program is being managed by the B.C. Construction Association and its regional associations, which provides unique access to hundreds of contractors and potentially thousands of construction jobs across the province.
A provincial advisory committee representing industry, immigrant services and government will provide input and guidance, and help make the various decisions necessary to keep the project on track. (A list of committee members is attached.)
ISTEP is scheduled to run as a pilot project in British Columbia for three years. After that an independent consultant will assess the effectiveness of the program and its potential for implementation across Canada.
The BC Construction Association is the largest and most inclusive construction employer organization in the province. It represents more than 1700 non-union and union contractors active in all sectors of the industry, but primarily focused on Industrial, Commercial and Institutional construction. BCCA members include general contractors, trade contractors and suppliers, large and small, from all regions of BC and they hire and train more than 75% of the apprentices currently in the construction sector.
The Construction Sector Council of Canada is a unique national partnership that brings together representatives of labour, business and government. The mandate of the CSC is to identify and undertake initiatives that will address the current and future human resource challenges facing the construction industry in Canada.
A primary objective of the CSC is the development of a highly-skilled workforce and a safe workplace environment that contribute to the organizational productivity and individual prosperity of the members of the construction industry.
The Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) program is one of the key components of the government's Internationally Trained Workers Initiative. This initiative is an integrated, comprehensive strategy in which more than 14 federal departments work together to address the barriers internationally trained workers face to working in Canada.
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