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The Calgary Construction Association traces its history back 80 years to 1944, when it was first known as the Calgary Business Exchange. It began as a central point where plans and bid documents for new buildings were made available, and contractors could submit their tenders.

The organization underwent a name change to CCA in 1965 and today serves the Calgary construction community through education programs, networking events, advocacy and access to business opportunities. Under the leadership of president and CEO Bill Black, it currently has a membership of more than 800.

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It is celebrating its milestone anniversary by investing in the future of the construction industry, addressing one of the most critical challenges of our time: the skilled trades labour shortage.

Black recognizes that the trades have carried a certain stigma, particularly among some educators and parents who believe their child is destined for a successful career in a profession. Yet, mastering a trade can be financially rewarding, providing ample opportunities for advancement and ownership, as well as offering personal satisfaction in contributing to community building.

CCA is tackling the labour shortage with a couple of significant initiatives to shape our future workforce by promoting the trades through education programs.

In a bid to inspire today’s youth to embrace careers in skilled trades, through its Education Fund, CCA is collaborating with the Honour the Work program to introduce a skilled-trades curriculum supplement across 850 classrooms in Calgary’s Catholic and public school districts. Aimed at students in grades 1 to 6, the program features STEAMS (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math, Skills) kits that connect classroom learning to real-world skilled trades careers through comprehensive lesson plans, diverse children’s books about trades and hands-on activities with welder’s helmets, masonry trowels and even a doorbell to wire.

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CCA members have been supportive of the program. Over four days, 60 volunteers filled all of the boxes being forwarded to the Calgary school boards.

Sparking interest in trades from an early age, the initiative is set to reach up to 30,000 students in its first year.

A second, far-reaching involvement is a CCA partnership with Telus Spark Science Centre and the Government of Alberta, with an investment into Spark’s BLUprint Program. CCA is making a $100,000 investment into the program that will create exploration spaces at Telus Spark that engage students in hands-on activities related to carpentry, plumbing and electrical trades. By incorporating STEAMS education, BLUprint aims to ignite curiosity and passion for skilled trades among Calgary’s youth.

Kids will have fun in a dedicated, physical area where they will be able to watch and help erect scaffolding, hammer nails into 2x4s, and mix mortar.

The program was launched July 31 and in the first two weeks it recorded more than 8,000 visitors, including kids as well as their parents and teachers, helping them understand aspects of careers in the trades.

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The need is great today. More than one in four job vacancies in the Calgary region are in the construction trades and related professions. Calgary is undergoing a tremendous surge in construction, particularly in homebuilding, and more migration into the city means rapid growth in residential construction will continue. As well, CCA expects 20,000 to 30,000 people working in the construction industry will retire over the next decade.

CCA is addressing the growing demand for tradespeople, introducing students at an early age to a career with job stability, on a financially rewarding path that doesn’t begin with school debt.

Notes:

The Energizing Communities Collective received the 2024 Philanthropic Group of the Year at the recent Alberta Fundraising Professionals ceremony. Founded by Geri Greenall, COO of Cascade Trading, the collective represents more than 20 oil and gas companies that have united behind the shared goal of raising money to support Classroom Champions. In just two years, the collective has raised more than $4 million that will significantly expand Classroom Champions’ athlete mentorship programming and social and emotional learning curriculum across Western Canada. It directly affects Classroom Champions’ growth, including 87 schools, 380 teachers enrolled, 31 Indigenous communities signed up for customized programs, and almost 10,000 students participating. The first philanthropic organization of its kind in Canada, the collective uniquely brings together a range of industry competitors in Calgary to support a charitable cause.

David Parker appears regularly in the Herald.

Read his columns online at calgaryherald.com/business. He can be reached at 403-830-4622.

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