of community, employer, and
individual benefits. On the
$7.55 million invested in the
program, the study calculat-
ed a total societal benefit of
$9.28 million – a $1.23 return
for each dollar invested.
The focus of STEP is to connect
British Columbia residents
with the available jobs and re-
moving barriers to careers in
the skilled trades – with some
added focus on boosting op-
portunities for Aboriginals,
women, and landed immi-
grants, to strengthen the BC
labour pool. STEP will con-
nect almost 2000 people into
industry opportunities this
year alone.
“We play a role in advocacy,
working with government and
educational institutions to en-
sure the training and educa-
tion system is lining up with
the needs of our industry,”
says McLachlan. “Innovation
is always a challenge but we
have been at the forefront.”
Members are encouraged to
participate in the provincial
networks in a number of ways.
From a projects perspective,
the network of project oppor-
tunities and organizations on
BidCentral can bring signifi-
cant prospects for businesses
looking to bid. “You can go on
to BidCentral if you’re a trade
contractor or general contrac-
tor, put in keywords in the
automated service we have,
and the system will notify
you that the project has been
added,” he says. The BCCA
also urges participation from
the construction community.
“Our function is at the pro-
vincial level but we work with
the four regional associations
who are the storefronts for
engagement… we have active
committees that members can
get involved in and give direct
input in a significant way at
the committee, regional and
provincial level. This kind of
participation leads to person-
al and business development
and better outcomes.”
Although we cannot pinpoint
what the future has in store
for British Columbia’s con-
struction industry, McLach-
lan predicts that it will be “in
constant change.”
“The traditional way of doing
business – where the buyers
are impacted by the availabil-
ity of capital and the needs of
that particular industry – will
shift because of the increased
capacity of the owners’ com-
munity to manage that pro-
cess. We will see more in-
volvement of design-bid
projects, and new technolo-
gies like Building Information
Modeling (BIM) could change
things dramatically.”
The aging workforce will of-
fer whole new demographics
to the industry, and changing
skill sets will be part of the
upcoming evolution. McLach-
lan says that British Columbia
will see an increase in proj-
ects and may be “so huge
that governments’ ability to
finance them through tradi-
tional means won’t work, so
we will see more P3 (private-
public) partnership approach-
es and we will see more of
the international contracting
work coming to BC.”
The BCCA emphasizes pulling
traditionalists into this mar-
ketplace who are resistant to
change. As McLachlan says,
“the real challenge is to pro-
vide them with information
so they can start to make
their own plans on how they
will engage: dynamics will be
vigorous and challenging but
exciting at the same time.”
JANUARY 2014
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