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International Women’s Day 2024

The Government of Canada’s theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Invest in women: accelerate progress.” CLRA stands behind improved access and opportunities for women to succeed in the skilled trades, with the goal to build a better future for themselves, the province, and the country. Today, we celebrate skilled tradeswomen that build and maintain our province. An organization that has partnered with CLRA in the past is Women Building Futures (WBF). WBF provides free training programs, career coaching, mentorship opportunities, and overall support for women wanting to enter careers in the skilled trades, trucking, and related fields. CLRA contractors have previously hired WBF graduates and are committed to empowering women to thrive in the construction industry. We encourage women to explore the rewarding world of trades careers. An excellent place to start looking is our new Work Alberta Trades website which offers women interested in trades information on career options, education opportunities, financial aid, and more. Happy International Women’s Day!

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Announcement

Bonnie Smith Presents at ACR AGM

CLRA Board Chair Bonnie Smith presented today at the Alberta Chamber of Resources AGM at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Smith discussed ways that Construction Labour Relations Alberta strives for innovation in a challenging labour market during the AGM’s afternoon panel. Presenting alongside Smith on the panel were Business Council of Alberta’s Economist and Manager of Policy Alicia Planincic, and the President of NAIT, Laura Jo Gunter. During her presentation Bonnie highlighted CLRA’s latest initiative through the Education – Work Alberta Trades campaign, to attract youth into the skilled trades in Alberta. Smith also shared CLRA’s success story of last year’s collective agreement settlements with skilled trade unions, which continues to help make Alberta among the most competitive job markets in the country in the construction industry.

Announcement

Province Offers $5,000 Bonus To Attract New Skilled Trades Workers

The recent Budget 2024 announcement by the Alberta government included another incentive to attract skilled trades to move here. Finance Minister Nate Horner introduced the latest chapter of the province’s ‘Alberta is Calling’ campaign, which will offer a one-time $5,000 attraction bonus to eligible skilled trades workers. A total of $10 million is dedicated to the effort, designed to help 2,000 new workers relocate to Alberta beginning in the spring. Criteria for receiving the bonus include working full-time in high in demand trades, filing 2024 taxes in Alberta, and living in the province for at least 12 months. More information on the attraction bonus – both the application process and eligibility criteria – will be made available in the coming weeks. Budget 2024 reinforced the government’s vision to develop a workforce that meets the province’s short and long-term labour market needs. Altogether, the budget allocated $100 million in new funding toward apprenticeship programs, which includes the addition of over 3,000 apprenticeship seats in post-secondary institutions over the next year. Read all the budget highlights here, or more about the attraction bonus here.

Announcement

Canadians are moving to Alberta in droves. How affordable is the province for homebuyers?

A recent report by Re/Max Canada continues to showcase that Alberta’s favourable tax environment and lower housing prices are attracting a rising number of Canadians – particularly from provinces like Ontario and British Columbia – to settle out West. The report found that tax rate increases, record-high housing values, and mortgage rates have led to a post-pandemic exodus from the country’s most expensive markets, with a significant uptick in interprovincial migration to Alberta. Specifically, Alberta welcomed a little over 45,000 people last year, doubling the numbers seen in 2022 according to Statistics Canada. The highest influx of new Albertans in the third quarter came from Ontario, followed by B.C., Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. This trend of West-bound migration isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. CLRA is working in partnership with the province to attract skilled workers to address the labour demands for our growing economy. We hope that our upcoming education-focused campaign will encourage more Albertan youth – as well as adults changing careers – to consider pursuing the trades for long-term, well-paying, meaningful work. Read the full National Post article here.

Excerpt: Board Chair's New Year Message to Members

“Over the next several months, much of our association’s focus for that work will be advocacy with the provincial government and with other industry stakeholders. Politics in Alberta have changed dramatically and permanently over the last decade. As a result, we have work to do to raise awareness about CLRA with decision-makers and influencers in government.

“We have important messages to deliver on your behalf about the value of the collective agreements we’ve signed with the skilled trade unions, about the value CLRA offers to government efforts to attract investment and workers to Alberta, about the need for more predictable and stable investments in the construction industry, trades education and workforce retention, about the impact of potential changes to labour legislation, workplace safety regulations and building codes, and about the need to attract and recruit more people to our industry from underrepresented groups including women, LGBTQ2S+ and Indigenous people.

“As Chair, my only ask of our members this year is to support these efforts.”