Since its founding, the Building Trades of Alberta (BTA) has brought together union locals from across the skilled trades to achieve our common goals for our members, our industry and our province.

Sometimes the road is tough. Sometimes the wheels of change are slow. But we are the Building Trades. We are 60,000 of the most skilled trades workers in North America. From Edmonton to Calgary and from Fort McMurray to Fort Saskatchewan, we are the workers who have built the industrial prosperity of this great province, and by working with each level of government, we can bring the promise of Alberta’s skilled trades to life for owners, contractors and workers.

Here are just a few of the ways the BTA is building greatness in partnership with our municipal, provincial and federal governments.

Alberta’s Building Trades Unions offer world-class training centres for apprentices to hone and master their crafts. From the UA Local 488’s Alberta Pipe Trades College to the IBEW Local 424’s Electrical Training Centre of Alberta, these long-standing facilities have provided industry-informed apprenticeship training for generations of tradespeople in our province.

Now, with an influx of major industrial projects such as Dow’s Path 2 Zero project, Alberta faces a surge in the need for skilled tradespeople. As this demand grows, the BTA and its affiliates are rising to the task of increasing Alberta’s apprenticeship seats.

Until now, union-led training in Alberta has been paid for by each union’s respective training fund. This is because the Building Trades Unions recognize that an investment in high-quality training is an investment in a high-quality workforce. But to grow our province’s training capacity, more support was necessary.

The BTA advocated for the Province of Alberta to adopt a similar model to Ontario, where Building Trades Union training centres receive operational funds from the provincial government to increase the rate of apprenticeships. By working with Alberta’s provincial government, skilled trade unions were able to secure $15 million in funding over the next 3 years to support union-led training. Each year, $5 million in funds will be provided to various union training centres.

As the BTA continues to build a strong partnership with Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education, more opportunities to support the growth of apprenticeship and apprenticeship-readiness programs through the BTA’s training partners, such as The Educational Partnership Foundation, are emerging.

Albertan cities have seen an influx of trafficked, undocumented workers being misclassified as ‘subcontractors’ on publicly-funded projects. This has created an abusive black market labour market and is robbing Alberta apprentices and skilled trades workers of opportunities in their own communities. Bad actors who abuse this system have been able to undercut law-abiding contractors by offering reduced costs through low, untaxable cash wages and zero pension plan contributions.

To rebuild the opportunities of Alberta’s civil construction industry, restore a fair bidding process for contractors and ensure that projects are delivered with quality by a skilled workforce, the BTA has been connecting with political partners on both the provincial and federal level.

One such elected official, Kelly McCauley, Member of Parliament for Edmonton-West, has worked closely with the BTA and championed this issue on Parliament Hill. Recently, MP McCauley used his role as Chair of the Government Operations Committee to bring this crisis forward and make tackling it a priority.

The BTA is also working with the municipal governments of Edmonton and Calgary to enforce procurement policies and phase out black market labour from city projects. We have since seen greater enforcement by law enforcement on projects, such as the Calgary Event Centre site where four undocumented workers were successfully identified.

Together, as one Building Trades Council, we can make our voices heard and ensure that the issues of our members and contractors are a priority for those in government. With much more to achieve, the BTA looks forward to continuing to work with our partners in each level of government.