The B.C. government is adding hundreds of new skilled trades training seats in the hope of having enough workers to build major projects in the province.

Premier David Eby said major projects don’t just need permits and materials, they also need people and 462 new skilled-trades training seats at Kwantlen Polytechnic will help

“These projects create revenue for the provincial government that pay for public services, but they also create jobs for British Columbians, but they’re jobs for British Columbians that depend on them having the skills to be able to take them,” Eby said.

The latest Labour Market Outlook shows the top 15 in-demand skilled trades, from carpenters to welders, will account for more than 72,000 job openings in the next decade.

At least a third of those working in construction skilled trades are expected to retire over the same period.

“We’re not necessarily seeing that workforce being replaced at the rate we need in order to achieve all of these different ambitions,” Meagan Gordon, manager of sustainable workforce at the Pembina Institute, said.

Meanwhile, the province earmarked $241 million over three years for in-demand trades jobs training in the last budget and one solution is to look abroad for more help.

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A recent report found “immigration is one of the few ways governments can quickly increase the supply of skilled tradespeople in the short term.”

“This may be a way for us to help address some of these gaps, by re-prioritizing our immigration system a little bit for where there are persistent gaps, construction being one of those,” Michael Burt, vice-president of Signal49 Research, said.

The premier says he’s spoken with the prime minister about fine-tuning immigration to help meet specific labour needs.

“I would like to be able to send a message to those people around the world who are highly skilled, who are keen to come here and help build our province, that they have a place here in British Columbia and we can’t do that with the current numbers in our provincial nominee program,” Eby said.