New Program to Help Tradespeople Succeed in Business

Tradespeople in Atlantic Canada are getting more help to succeed as managers and business owners.

MLA Becky Kent, on behalf of Frank Corbett, Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, and Gail Shea, Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), announced the Atlantic Trades Business Seal Program today, May 15.

Tradespeople will now be able to supplement their trade certification with business credentials to help them start and expand their businesses or move into managerial roles within an existing company.

"Nova Scotia is turning the corner. We are poised to take advantage of some of the greatest opportunities in our history, creating thousands of good jobs," said Ms. Kent. "This business program for tradespeople fits perfectly with our jobsHere Strategy to help prepare Nova Scotians and to ensure they have the right skills to take advantage of these good jobs."

As a recognized standard throughout Atlantic Canada, the Atlantic Trades Business Seal will complement the Red Seal endorsement, which is accepted across Canada as an industry standard of excellence for the skilled trades.

"The federal government is committed to supporting certification and training initiatives that promote skills development and create job opportunities for Atlantic Canadians," said Ms. Shea. "Our support for the Atlantic Trades Business Seal Program will help tradespeople achieve their business goals, as well as to take advantage of the historic opportunities that will flow from projects like the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy."

The Atlantic Trades Business Seal Program is being offered in five colleges across Atlantic Canada, including Nova Scotia Community College, New Brunswick Community College and Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland and Labrador and Holland College on Prince Edward Island.

To achieve the business seal, program participants are required to complete 150 hours of study in operations management, business planning, marketing and sales, financial management, and human resource management.

The program offers many advantages, such as encouraging formal learning and training beyond the trade certificate, presenting new career opportunities by promoting the successful startup and growth of trades-related businesses, and providing a common recognized standard so businesses can identify individuals with the skills to manage or take over a business. The program also contributes to greater worker mobility in the Atlantic region and provides apprentices with more opportunities, which will help efforts to attract more young people to the skilled trades.

The skilled trades sector in Canada will need more workers in the near future. According to the Conference Board of Canada, nearly one million positions in trades will open up nationwide due to retirements by 2020.

ACOA is investing $100,236 in the Atlantic Trades Business Seal Program under the Business Development Program. The province is investing $40,000.

The Atlantic Apprenticeship Council is leading this initiative. The council encourages the standardization of apprenticeship training and certification programs and provides greater mobility across Atlantic Canada for skilled workers. The council is made up of apprenticeship directors and apprenticeship board chairs of the four Atlantic provinces and works under the Atlantic Workforce Partnership framework.

For more information go to www.atbseal.com .