We had a good turnout for our 2022 meeting, held at the RedTail Landing in Leduc on May 13, 2022. Thank you to all our members who attended and for your continued support of our association. We have a stronger voice when we are united.
It was a pleasure to award Jordan Snopek of Scott Builders and Mitch Friesen of Kesho Construction with $1,500 Ironworker apprenticeship Memorial Awards – congratulations to you both for excelling in the Metal Building System Erector (MBSE) program and your dedication to the metal building construction industry. If you are an AMBA member company and have employees registered in the MBSE program, they may be eligible for a $1,500 Memorial Award or a $500 First Year Apprenticeship bursary.
Nicole Mahoney, NAIT Ironworker Chair, provided some valuable information on the direction of Apprenticeship and Industry Training programs, the impact of Bill 67 and some industry statistics.
Over the next decade, Alberta’s construction and maintenance industry will see an exodus of trade workers retiring. Apprenticeship numbers have dropped 36% in past 6 years and a whopping 33% fewer were registered in one single year (2020). This decline has necessitated a hard look at how the province is currently delivering trades training. Bill 67 aims to provide program flexibility, reduce red tape and meet these emerging challenges. The apprenticeship system will have slight changes to how the programs are delivered with flexibility to change traditional block training and deliver some of the training remotely. This should encourage stronger enrollment across the province while meeting industry worker demand.
