Federal program will train health-care assistants in Vernon and Salmon Arm

Photo: Contributed

A federally funded progam is offering people a chance to become a health-care worker in the Okanagan-Shuswap.

With federal funding through the Canada-British Columbia Workforce Development Agreement, the BC Care Providers Association will be training health care assistants in Vernon and Kelowna.

Students enrolled in the program will receive skills training by way of the provincially approved curriculum for health care assistants, in partnership with Discovery Community College.

The program will be delivered over the course of 38 weeks, including 21 weeks for classroom theory and lab skills hours and 12 weeks for practice.

Training will be delivered three days a week for the classroom theory portion of the program, with varying clinical practice schedules.

The entire program consists of 780 hours of training.

BCCPA has gained support for the initiative from several employers in the region, and all participating employers have part-time or full-time positions available.

Following completion of the program, BCCPA will host a hiring fair and job connections for participating employers and graduates.

To be eligible for the program, participants must:

• be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons entitled to work in Canada and living in B.C.;
• be in possession of a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN);
• be currently unemployed, precariously employed*, or employed part-time, casually, or seasonally;
• have not participated in any other CWRG-funded training projects in the last 12 months or be currently enrolled in any other federally or provincially funded training programs at the start of this project;
• be ready and capable of participating in the project

Additional admission requirements are set by Discovery Community College in line with their standard admission prerequisites, including:

• Grade 12 graduation or mature student status (19+)
• Meet English language competency requirements:
• Proof of completion of Grade 10 English or higher for native speakers
• Proof of standardized English language assessment test for non-native speaker

For general college admissions enquiries call 877-315-5241, or email [email protected].

Training will take place Aug. 22 to May 5, 2023. For an intake application form, click here.