YCCBC Insulators: One Year Later

This Tuesday, alumni from the YCCBC Insulators Pilot Program met with the BC Federation of Labour and Rob Sheck from BC Insulators Local 118 to share their experiences in the workforce one year after completing the program. The pilot supported seven youth through a three-month insulators training stream, which ultimately led to apprenticeships for every participant.

Ann, Beck, Ricky, and Benjamin, four of the program’s graduates, joined us to discuss what it’s been like to enter a green trade for the first time and how their careers have grown since working with YCCBC.

What motivated you to join the insulators program:

Ricky: "[Before the program] I was bouncing around seasonal jobs, and it felt work-wise, I wasn't going anywhere, because the job market seemed so [bad]. I was recommended to be in this program, and now here I am in the trades. I'm liking it because it gives me stability."

Beck shows off his insulating work.

How stable has your employment been since starting this program:

Benjamin: I got laid off in August, but I just called the union and said, 'hey, I'm looking for a job,' and they put me on the list, and then I think three days later I got a call, being like, 'hey, can you start on Tuesday next week?' So basically, I was unemployed for four or five days.

Beck: Besides an injury, I've been employed the entire time from when we got on board in November to now, over a year later. There was a small time when I was shifted to another job site, but the transition was smooth.

Ann shows her insulating work.

Had you thought about being in the trades before this program:

Ann: "No, I joined because I wanted to get out of the office and get out of the rigidity of sitting at a desk and doing monotonous work all day. I wanted to do something with my hands and something that I never thought I'd ever see myself doing. So no, I never thought about joining trades. I'm glad I did, because it taught me a lot of skills that I would never have learned if I stayed where I was."

How has being involved with this program impacted your personal growth:

Beck: "Speaking to personal growth, one of the things that trades has really helped me with is just identifying where things I know and things I don't know begin and end and identifying who I can ask questions to, who I feel is good at explaining things in the way that I learn. So I've become my own advocate, trying to figure out the ways in which I learn."