NORTHERN BC – Five people in the Cariboo region will gain new job skills as they upgrade the Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail and other local recreation sites through a Job Creation Partnership with the British Columbia government.
The New Pathways to Gold Society received nearly $400,000 from the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation’s Community and Employer Partnerships program for the Joint Cariboo Project, which will see participants install new amenities along the Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail, at the local ice caves and on Canim Lake Band territory.
The program participants will be at work until December 2016 as they gain skills in general construction, log building, road work and trail building. They will also receive Level 1 first aid training, chain saw and power saw training, and training in off-road recreational vehicles, WorkPlace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS) and Bear Aware programs.
Along the area’s Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail, popular among snowmobilers, project participants will install four warming huts and nine information kiosks to make the trail more accessible for new users. At local recreation sites they will install 15 outhouses, 35 picnic tables, 12 pit toilets and steps, and 30 picnic table planks. On the Canim Lake Band territory, participants will build 12 log picnic tables, two outhouses and log tables, a pow-wow arbour and a baseball field dug-out. They will also build a trapper’s cabin, renovate another cabin and build a trail along Bob’s Lake. In the final stage, participants will overhaul the ice caves with similar amenities, as well as add a foot bridge, new railing and parking lot improvements.
Job Creation Partnerships are part of the Employment Program of British Columbia’s Community and Employer Partnerships, which fund projects that increase employability and share labour market information.
The Community and Employer Partnerships program is featured in B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint and provides more support to people who are struggling to gain a foothold in the job market. It helps build stronger partnerships with industry and labour to connect British Columbians with classroom and on-the-job training, while making it easier for employers to hire the skilled workers they need – when and where they need them.
To date, more than 1,000 job seekers benefited from work experience and more than 200 projects have been funded throughout the province.
