BRITISH COLUMBIA – Automotive technicians in BC can align their skills with the low-carbon economy through an electric vehicle (EV) maintenance training pilot program at four Institutions throughout the province.
In March 2021, the Province announced $440,000 for the expansion of EV Maintenance Training program through the CleanBC Go Electric program to three additional BC colleges in partnership with Trades Training BC. The program provides Red Seal automotive technicians with the skills they need to work on EVs, supports the growing demand for EVs in BC and prepares British Columbians for good-paying jobs in the burgeoning clean-energy economy.
The program is being piloted as two one-week in-person courses at Camosun College’s Interurban campus in Greater Victoria and is offered regularly at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) Burnaby campus, where the program was launched in 2020. Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus and the College of New Caledonia’s Prince George campus held course pilots this year.
“We are super excited to be launching specialized electric vehicle training at Camosun College and look forward to sharing knowledge and skills in this dynamic field with Vancouver Island automotive service technicians. We appreciate the investment the ministry has made to ensure our school is prepared with the vehicles and equipment necessary to provide top-notch technical training,” said Patrick Jones, automotive technician program leader at Camosun College.
The EV Maintenance Training program aligns with the recently released CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, which details a range of expanded actions to accelerate the transition to a net-zero future and to achieve BC’s legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets. These actions include strengthening the Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) Act to require automakers to meet an escalating annual percentage of new light-duty ZEV sales and leases, reaching 26 per cent of light-duty vehicle sales by 2026, 90 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035, which would be five years ahead of the original target.
Trades Training BC is a consortium of 15 BC public post-secondary educational institutions created to promote trades training in British Columbia. Trades Training BC’s primary function is to encourage students and others considering career retraining to explore trades as a viable career option.
