More skills training at OC

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Funding from the government will allow Okanagan College to bring more job training to students.

Okanagan College will be adding more seats to some of its programs.

There will be 203 new spaces available to students as early as the 2014 school year, and the province hopes this will reduce waitlists for trades training in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, and other industries.

Okanagan College will be one of 14 post-secondary instructions across the province to get funding, as part of a $6.8 million announcement from the government.

The college will receive $928,000 to accommodate:

• 18 steam / pipefitter foundation seats.
• 49 welder foundation seats.
• 30 heavy equipment operator foundation seats.
• 86 electrical foundation seats.
• 20 heavy-duty equipment mechanic foundation seats.

"We promised to increase access to critical trades training seats for in-demand jobs and we are delivering on our commitment to ensure we have a skilled workforce. Throughout British Columbia, we are re-engineering education and training to turn learners into earners,” says Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk.

The provincial government expects there will be one million job openings by 2022, with 43 per cent of those jobs requiring a college education of apprenticeship training.