VIU trades complex to get $20-million expansion

B.C. boosts funding to train Island trades workers A government estimate predicts British Columbia's trades sector will require more than a million new workers in the next decade.

Vancouver Island University will see a major expansion in its trades department thanks to a joint provincial-federal investment.

The $20-million expansion and redevelopment for the Marine, Automotive and Trades Complex involves 2,014 square-metres of new construction and 629 square-metres of renovations.

The work will improve and add 128 full-time spaces for in-demand trades programs that align with the needs of industries and employers.

“In the next decade we will see over a million job openings because of retirement or because of succession and so we have to ensure that our students have the opportunity to get the skills that they need,” said Michelle Stilwell, MLA for Parksville-Qualicum.

A mobile simulator operated by the university is travelling up and down the island to promote the heavy equipment operation course.

It was in the Comox Valley on Tuesday, allowing students to test out a possible future occupation.

“For our students, we brought the simulator up to expose them to the simulator and to see if they like it and if they’re interested in the trades,” said Randy Grey, career plans coordinator with District 71. “Sort of a bit of candy for getting kids excited about going into the trades.”

The federal government and VIU are also injecting $2.4-million into a District Geo-Exchange Energy System that will reduce the carbon output for heating and cooling at the university’s Nanaimo campus.

Construction is expected to get underway in early 2017 and be substantially complete by spring 2018.