The complex at BCIT will be a hub for skills training and include four new buildings, benefiting more than 12,000 full- and part-time students per year in more than 20 trades and technology programs.
VICTORIA – The Province has announced its long term economic plan called StrongerBC with the aim to grow sustainable and inclusive economy.
“The StrongerBC Economic Plan says the wellbeing of the more than five million people who call B.C. home is our most important economic advantage,” said Premier John Horgan.
One of the major focuses of the plan is to prepare skills trade force for the coming one million jobs over the next decade. For this reason, the Province has announced an investment of $136.6 million to build a new state-of-the-art Trades and Technology Complex at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Burnaby campus.
The complex will be a hub for skills training and include four new buildings, benefiting more than 12,000 full- and part-time students per year in more than 20 trades and technology programs.
Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “Through this plan we will close our skills gap, prove that we can grow the economy while tackling climate change and create a province that is more inclusive, sustainable and innovative.”
Along with building a new Trades and Technology Complex at BCIT, key actions under the 40 page StrongerBC Economic Plan include training British Columbians to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow, accelerating the timeline to connect all B.C. communities to high-speed internet, creating opportunities for under-represented entrepreneurs, expanding domestic manufacturing capabilities, establishing an ESG Centre of Excellence to promote Environmental, Social and Governance principles for products and services, and building more resilient B.C. businesses by expanding access to global markets.
According to the province more than 300 people from every region of the province and from all walks of life, such as leaders from businesses, labour groups, First Nations and Indigenous communities, municipalities and universities and colleges, were engaged to develop this plan. Mariana Mazzucato, one of the world’s foremost economic thought leaders who has advised governments and policy makers to deliver solutions to societal challenges, was also involved to offer her expertise.
Cities like Surrey and Vancouver have welcomed the plan calling it inclusive and sustainable. “Metro Vancouver is pleased to see that the provincial plan highlights clean economic growth that helps meet CleanBC climate commitments and supports the ambitious emission reduction and resilience targets outlined in Metro Vancouver’s Climate 2050 and Clean Air Plan,” said Sav Dhaliwal, chair of Metro Vancouver’s Board of Directors.
The plan aims to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years to build, maintain, and upgrade the critical infrastructure that underlies the prosperity and livability of the region, such as the Iona Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Greg D’Avignon, President and CEO, Business Council of B.C., said, “In our opinion, this plan provides an attractive vision of what British Columbia can become, but it does not contain the material actions required or send a strong enough signal to either the domestic or international business community that the government can provide the certainty necessary for new investments, including ESG capital to flow into or grow within the province, in order to ultimately help pay for that vision.
“Today, B.C. does not have the welcoming conditions required to attract the private sector investment dollars necessary to realize the full potential of the province’s advantages in natural resources, innovation, or people. As a more competitive world emerges from COVID-19, other jurisdictions are more attractive to investors and offer greater certainty. Provincially and nationally, we are a comparatively high tax jurisdiction with an uncertain and inefficient regulatory environment that has become too costly and too complex.”
