CLRA President Joe McFadyen and Board Chair Bonnie Smith represented members at a meeting with Alberta’s Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney at the Alberta Legislature earlier this week.
This was an important opportunity to discuss opportunities for partnerships between unionized construction employers and the provincial government, and solutions to develop the skilled trades workforce through education, training & apprenticeship opportunities – like the recently announced partnership between the ministry and IUOE 955.
Over an hour-long meeting, CLRA discussed how members’ workforce development initiatives align with the Government of Alberta’s efforts to address the labour shortage in the construction industry. We also talked about our Seed vs. Sod approach to enticing workers to our province, and encouraging young people to build rewarding careers in our industry.
CLRA looks forward to developing our relationships with our provincial government further, and to convening valuable policy discussions about skilled worker education, training, and economic development with Minister Sawhney and her cabinet colleagues, our unionized construction employer members, and our colleagues across all building trades.
