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Essential Skills Training

The essential skills for the construction workforce are reading, writing, math, document use, oral communication and English as a Second Language.  In 2012, to address gaps in the then rapidly-growing workforce, COAA provided leadership to form a network of Alberta training organizations specializing in assisting construction workers and their employers in identifying and addressing essential skills training:

  • Bow Valley College in Calgary;
  • Calgary Catholic Immigration Services in Calgary;
  • MCC Employment Development in Calgary;
  • Metro Community College (Edmonton Public Continuing Education) in Edmonton;
  • NorQuest College in Edmonton; and
  • Keyano College in Fort McMurray.

Working jointly under the acronym CINESTRA (Construction Industry Network for Essential Skills Training in Alberta) the six learning organizations raised employee/employer awareness and provided a combined course list tailored to our industry and available across the province:

This initiative was made possible through the leadership of COAA the collaborative effort of many individuals and organizations.  Eight sponsoring organizations (both labour providers and employer associations) provided generous financial contributions to help to pay for the production and printing of a booklet. Particular acknowledgement was given to the National Literacy Secretariat and Alberta Learning for not only their financial assistance in piloting a number of the programs and services, but also ongoing commitment to advancing the issues that affect literacy in Canada.

The program booklet Tools for Essential Skills Training in Alberta (Building Capacity in Alberta’s Construction Industry) has now been archived, having served its purpose of raising awareness and identifying concrete training solutions for our industry.  If you wish to review the archived document, please contact the COAA office at admin@coaa.ab.ca.

File Type: pdf
Categories: Best Practice, COAA Steering Committies, COAA Sub Committies, Company Best Practice, Detailed Document Types, Essential Skills Training, High Level Document Types, Workforce Development
Downloads: 107

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Construction Owners Association of Alberta recognizes that COAA’s office in Edmonton is located within Treaty 6 Territory and within the Métis homelands and Métis Nation of Alberta Region 4. We further acknowledge that what we call Alberta is the traditional and ancestral territory of many peoples, presently subject to Treaties 6, 7, and 8. Namely: the Blackfoot Confederacy – Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika – the Cree, Dene, Saulteaux, Nakota Sioux, Stoney Nakoda, and the Tsuu T’ina Nation and the Métis People of Alberta. We acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations and we are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.

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