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workforce, for example, aboriginals, women in
trades, landed immigrants, new Canadians and
the temporary foreign workers program and
individuals coming from other provinces,” said
Folk.
SCA has a statistician in the province who
provides the company with regularly updated
information in a document titled, “The Data
Warehouse”, which is provided to SCA mem-
bers.
“The second pillar of SCA’s work is promotion
of careers in construction. Generally speaking,
the role is to provide information, resources
and encouragement to youth and young adults
to assure them construction is a good career to
be in,” Folk said. “We’re trying to remove the
stereotype that if you’re not good in school,
then you go into the trades because you’re not
good academically.”
He explained that the SCA has worked very
hard over the years to try to remove the inac-
curate stereotype. “Trades require as much
intelligence and academic wherewithal as uni-
versity goers,” he added. Changing the outdat-
ed public perception involves working closely
with high schools, administrators and counsel-
ors to promote an accurate view of the trades
to those about to enter the workforce.
The third component of SCA’s mandate is pro-
gramming and recruitment. The SCA delivers
direct training programs based on the deter-
mined needs within the provincial market with
some support from the federal and provincial
government. SCA staff provide youth with in-
class instruction on safety and essential work-
place skills in entry-level trade jobs.
SCA staff sit on boards and work with most
post-secondary training institutions in the
province to attain current industry intelligence.
“We really try to provide a strong connection
between training institutes and what’s going
on out in the field,” said Folk.
The fourth component is membership human
resources support. The SCA is an association of
“We really try to provide a strong connection between training institutes
and what’s going on out in the field.”
