Maple Leaf Homes (MLH), a manufactured housing producer in Fredericton, N.B. and the Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC) recently co-operated on a unique training and employment program for the wood manufacturing industry. MLH identified an interest in expanding their aboriginal workforce and recognized that WMC’s Wood Employee Readiness Curriculum (WERC) program provides an ideal training program for their needs.
WERC is a very flexible program, which allowed MLH to customize its delivery for their specific needs. This pilot project was the first in which WERC was offered within a single manufacturing facility. The suggested length of a traditional WERC training program is eight weeks, but the MLH version lasted 15 weeks, with its expanded essential skills and mandatory safety training requirements.
MLH’s vision is to enhance the aboriginal workforce within their plant and to have access to available aboriginal personnel who can be involved in manufacturing processes as well as the installation and finishing of homes sold to aboriginal communities. The skills acquired by the participants will also be beneficial to the communities in which they live.
“Our company wants to make a contribution to the aboriginal community, which we believe is an untapped resource for employees in our sector,” says Wayne
MacAllister, employee service manager, Maple Leaf Homes. “We also want to sell homes to their reserves and we want aboriginal workers involved in the manufacture, installation and finishing of those homes. Our company provided funding support to the program, along with employment and the opportunity for apprenticeship training support for those participants who successfully completed the program and wanted to work for Maple Leaf Homes.”
WERC Program participants.
MacAllister adds that he would like to see “WMC organize our industry to work collectively on developing a strong aboriginal workforce for our companies.”
An Aboriginal coordinator was retained to provide project co-ordination services and support for all aspects of the project, and to liaise with all project parties. Recruitment visits were made to 21 First Nations communities and groups in New Brunswick and the comprehensive WERC intake assessment process was used in the selection of 10 participants, all of whom were supported by their respective Band Councils. Four participants selected came from outside the Fredericton region and required accommodation and travel support. Participants followed a three-week classroom program that included essential and life skills development (reading, math, teamwork, self-management, etc.) held at the St. Mary’s Training Centre, which is close to the MLH training site. Safety training is a mandatory component for all WERC participants and MLH engaged the New Brunswick Construction Safety Association (NBCSA) to provide even more comprehensive coverage of this component of the program.
The WERC program normally includes an introduction to basic wood manufacturing to provide participants with education on practical skills and techniques that will be used on the job. MLH used its own facilities, supervisors and processes to deliver and expand upon this aspect of the program. While job shadowing and job placement with local companies is a standard component of the WERC model, the MLH version included both the training component and guaranteed employment prospects for those participants who successfully completed the program. MLH also offered to support formal apprenticeship training for those who graduated from this initiative and stayed on to work for the company.
Other important contributors to the program included consultation from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW), The Government of New Brunswick - Dept. of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) and Business New Brunswick. All participating First Nations communities contributed to the project by hosting information sessions; the Chief and Councils of Eel Ground, St. Mary’s, Burnt Church, Tobique, Oromocto and the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council supported participants in taking part in the project, with other assistance provided by the N.B. Aboriginal Workforce Development Initiative (AWDI) and the Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI).
The WMC’s WERC Program is a skills development initiative designed to train people for entry-level occupations in the advanced wood-manufacturing sector. The objective is to provide basic skills and knowledge to individuals from equity groups (First Nations, Inuit and Metis, new immigrants, persons with disabilities, youth at risk and other diversity groups) who are interested in careers in our industry. This practical skills development program will create additional sources of skilled labour that may be accessed by wood manufacturers. WERC-trained individuals will be assimilated more easily into manufacturing environments.
The Wood Manufacturing Council is committed to provide connectivity between and among employers in the industry. The WMC supports this initiative by developing and implementing opportunities through joint partnership building, by negotiating and securing funding and by supporting recruitment and WERC pro- gram delivery.
For further information, please contact:
Richard Lipman, President Wood Manufacturing Council
130 Albert Street, Suite 1016
Ottawa, Ont,
K1P 5G4 613-567-5511
rlipman@wmc-cfb.ca
Richard Lipman is President of the Wood Manufacturing Council.
www.wmc-cfb.ca/
