Megaproject a missed opportunity to address skills shortage, critics argue.
The largest public works project in B.C.’s history — the Site C dam — is providing a much smaller share of the jobs to British Columbians than previous BC Hydro projects.
And despite promises the $10.7-billion megaproject would provide a training ground for a new generation of trades workers, the number of apprentices hired is a fraction of the target agreed to by industry, government and unions.
It’s a missed opportunity to train needed workers, say unions.
This month about 3,000 workers are on the job at Site C, with the number set to increase as construction moves forward.
Typically, based on past projects, about 2,910 of them should be British Columbians.
But on the Site C site, less than 2,400 of the workers come from within the province.
Read the whole article here. Published April 4, 2019 on The Tyee.
