Prince George,  BC- The Assessing Planning Training pilot project will come to an end at the end of this month and it is being hailed as a success.

 

More than  600 employed forest workers and others ineligible for employment insurance accessed the Assessing (APT) in the 18 months of its operation.

 

The project was funded through a $ 2 million dollar labour market agreement with the Government of Canada, Province of British Columbia and USW Local 1-424. The purpose of the program was to provide skills training to employed forest workers and others who were under-employed or ineligible for employment insurance. The program was open to both union and non-union participants

 

Through APT, employed forestry participants expanded their skills making them more adaptable to the changes taking place in the forest sector as new technology to improve efficiency and diversification of operations takes place. Other participants in the program obtained the skills needed to meet the challenges of the changing market place. The APT model was the first in Canada that worked with employed workers. The APT program utilized local service providers already very familiar with the people and the challenges of each community. The project covered a vast area of the North which followed the Omineca beetle action coalition boundaries.

 

“We are extremely pleased how successful the project has been and the fact we managed to triple the participant intake from the original 200 to 600 without additional funding” says USW Local 1-424 President frank Everitt. “ Our focus was providing training dollars based on need not want. The model was very successful and it entailed a detailed interview and assessment of the present skill level of participants before moving forward to training or skills upgrading with impressive results and success.”

 

 

“The APT project has exceeded expectations and built a model that has gained the interest of many other organizations across the Country as they work on initiatives to improve opportunities for those employed or under employed requiring enhanced skills, “said USW Local 1-424 Forest Worker Coordinator Terry Tate. “ We are confident the results of this pilot project and the model will be recognized as innovative and proactive.

 

`This pilot program would not have been as successful without the good working relationship that was established with the Ministry of Community Development and the Ministry of Advanced Education. We are confident the lessons learned from this pilot will be of use to government in planning future programs” adds Everitt.