At Buildex Vancouver, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond announced a new partnership with the Building Owners and Managers Association of British Columbia (BOMA BC) to address skills gaps and labour market challenges in this industry.
B.C. businesses and employees rely on safe, well-maintained spaces to operate and work in every day. With more than 250 million square feet of commercial space to manage, it is critical for the commercial real estate industry to have the workforce they need to keep hundreds of buildings in the province running smoothly.
The B.C. government is supporting the BOMA Sector Labour Market Partnership Project, which is funded through the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA).
“The commercial real estate industry is important to B.C.’s economic growth – providing job opportunities and the necessary space for more businesses and organizations to establish their home base in our province. This project will help the industry understand the labour pool it needs in the future and is a great example of how our government is working together with industry to keep the B.C. economy diverse, strong and growing,” said Bond.
This project is the first phase of a potentially broader initiative that will help ensure that B.C. has the necessary skilled workforce in the commercial real estate industry. Key organizations in the industry will work together to identify the number of building operator and other skilled worker positions required to maintain commercial buildings throughout B.C.
Some of the labour challenges that the commercial real estate industry faces include: a shortage of qualified workers to hire as building operators, workforce attrition, retirement and an increase of commercial spaces within the province.
“We have heard from our industry of the need to ensure we have a well-trained, reliable workforce that is equipped and prepared to manage and operate our buildings well in to the future. We are pleased to be in partnership with the province on this important initiative which will allow us to conduct the research necessary to determine where the greatest human resources demand is and to develop strategies so that we can best address it,” said Paul LaBranche, BOMA BC president.
The Sector Labour Market Partnerships Program helps employers understand and respond to changing labour market demands, and ensures that training and education programs in B.C. are aligned with industry’s labour-market needs and priorities.
B.C. is expecting almost one million job openings due to retirements and economic growth by 2024. Facility operation and maintenance managers, as well as property administrators for residential and commercial buildings are among the top occupations that will be in high demand in the future. Up to 3,900 job openings in facility operation and maintenance managers, and 6,200 job openings for property administrators are expected in B.C. by 2024.
The Skills for Jobs Blueprint was launched in 2014 to help British Columbians get the skills they need to be first in line for these job openings. The Blueprint is re-engineering education and training toward a data-driven system so that funding is directed towards jobs that are in-demand.
Each year, government invests more than $7.5 billion in education and training from early learning programs for the youngest British Columbians all the way through to post-graduate education. Over the next 10 years, to better align our annual investment to meet emerging labour market needs, the government plans to redirect $3 billion of our training investment to focus on skills and programs for in-demand jobs.
