The Client
Northern Lights College, British Columbia, with funding from the British Columbia Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
The Challenge
In 2018, Northern Lights College (NLC) recognized the need to update a regional human resources strategy that Ingenia Consulting had prepared in 2012. The government of British Columbia supports community projects to identify ways to best align workforce training programs to meet regional needs. The Northeast region produces natural gas which transferred by pipeline. With liquefied natural gas plants under construction on BC’s coast, NLC, a local training institution, wanted to ensure it could meet the long-term labour needs of this industry. Energy, mining and forestry firms also need workers in the years ahead. Working with Encana, TC Energy, BC Hydro, and others, NLC wanted to ensure that local training programs were meeting current and future demand. Once again, regional leadership turned to Ingenia to address this challenge.
The Solution
Ingenia prepared a customized labour market demand analysis and developed a labour market strategy for Northeast BC. We conducted over 125 interviews (mostly on-site) with representatives from business, non-profits, high schools and Indigenous groups. We presented the draft recommendations at four community meetings in towns throughout the region. In November 2021, Ramona Materi presented the findings at a labour market conference discussing the future of the Northeast.
The Result
An updated Northeast Regional Labour Market Strategy filled with practical recommendations with funding sources identified. Ingenia is working with various partners to implement the recommendations.
The Northeast Regional Labour Market Strategy report is downloadable here.