What's Happening in Burnaby, BC…

The province recently made an announcement that will be good news for both Burnaby and the rest of B.C.

It will increase the amount of funding they provide to further education, and this will result in the creation of an estimated 272 seats at the city’s British Columbia Institute of Technology.

The $1.35m in funding will be split, with $798,000 going to fund seats, and the remainder will be used to purchase needed training equipment such as welding equipment, a small steam boiler, and tools.

The BCIT is the largest institution of its kind in the province, and trains people for trades such as welders, iron workers, industrial electricians, heavy duty equipment, and crane operators. These are considered to be among the top 12 jobs in the liquefied natural gas field, and they also have plenty of applications in other sectors of the economy.

The increase in the number of seats represents a 4% growth in the number of available spaces, and could cut wait times for courses by as much as 10 months.

The province is expected to announce further funding improvements for other institutions offering trades and technical training.

As more people become qualified for higher paying jobs, or start their own companies, it can have spin-off benefits for the rest of the economy. An example of this is firms who provide such services as business card printing.