The provincial government has announced funding for a series of new measures aimed at supporting British Columbia forest workers impacted by mill closures and shift reductions in several B.C. interior communities. The total funding is $69 million with money going to different measures.
There will be $40 million to establish a new cost-shared, early-retirement bridging program for older forest workers, $15 million to establish a new short-term forest employment program that focuses on fire prevention and community resiliency projects, $12 million is for workers to access skills training, and employer and community grants for further training. There will be a new job placement co-ordination facility that will track the transition and employment of impacted forest workers built with the last $2 million.
“We’re also asking industry to stand with us and step up to support the workers programing I’ve outlined, we want industry to be partners in this,” said Doug Donaldson minister of forests, lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.
Donaldson hopes to get companies to join in supporting the impacted workers by utilizing the measures being put into place.
