Saint John Tool Library launches 'micro-credentials' construction training program

The Saint John Tool Library has launched a program that aims to address the shortage of affordable housing and of skilled construction workers by providing paid rapid training to people facing barriers to housing and employment.

The six-week program, called Hammers 2 Homes, will offer participants "micro-credentials" in residential construction, said executive director Brent Harris.

That's a condensed series of hands-on courses that focus on the skills needed for particular jobs. The program received $95,000 from the provincial government through WorkingNB, 

Harris, who's also a city councillor, believes the program will help solve the housing crisis and the labour gap in the construction field. It will support the creation of affordable housing units while providing the construction industry with new workers.

"There's no question we need hundreds and hundreds more," Harris said of fully certified skilled trade workers who have Red Seal certification, the Canadian standard of excellence.

But that level of training can take 4,000 hours, he said, and those skilled workers can often get "stuck slinging drywall all day or … sweeping up the job site, or … patching holes and crack filling.

"There's a whole range of what we might call tertiary tasks that you don't need to have all that technical knowledge."

Meanwhile, if affordable housing construction continues at the current rate, "we're going to end up many thousands of units short and we're going to continue to see our social fabric and community deteriorate," Harris said.

In partnership with NBCC

Under Hammers 2 Homes, Harris and Arron Jones, of Big Dog Construction Inc., will spend about two weeks teaching 12 students safety and practical skills in the classroom before they go to work on an actual job site where affordable housing units are under construction.

Harris expects to start at 230 Duke St., an abandoned building that was slated to be demolished. There, the students will focus largely on renovation tasks, such as hanging drywall, insulation, and sealing, working about 30 hours a week for four weeks, he said.

Students who complete the program will receive a certificate from the New Brunswick Community College Saint John campus, which will give employers "a real sense that this person has some proficiency on, you know, four or five basic pieces of the residential construction puzzle," said Harris.

The first cohort of six students is slated to start classes in mid-January, followed by another six in the spring or early summer, he said. Applications will be available "soon."

Organizations that work with "people living on the margins," such as the John Howard Society of New Brunswick, Fundy Region, and the Coverdale Centre for Women, will help identify participants, he said. "Some are living in crisis, some just in between, you know, points of life."

People who are interested can also contact him directly through the tool library, he said.

There are no prerequisites, no tools are required, and the training is paid, stressed Harris. "We know that it's unreasonable to expect somebody who may have a minimum-wage job or may be working haphazardly to drop everything and come away for six weeks for nothing, or to pay out of pocket, especially."

They have budgeted for minimum wage for all students, but the pay will vary based on each student's situation, he said. "Not all students want to lose the funding they have for a six-week minimum-wage gig, so we may have to pay them by stipend or other mechanism until they have permanent employment," said Harris.

Hopes to help students find jobs, housing

Alyson Townsend, the post-secondary education, training and labour minister, said in a statement that she's excited about the potential for Hammers 2 Homes to open doors for some residents and get more people into the building sector.

"Innovative initiatives like this one will not only help people learn valuable skills in the trades, but give them an opportunity to work full-time," she said.

Harris said he hopes the program, modelled after Australia's social housing employment program, can help connect graduates with small contractors that work on affordable housing projects as potential employers, since big companies have the capacity to do their own in-house training.

He'd also like to see graduates get housing in the units they work on.

"Every New Brunswicker deserves a safe, affordable place to call home," David Hickey, minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said in a statement.

"Programs like this one will help us get closer to our goal and create the conditions to help make New Brunswick the most competitive housing development market in Atlantic Canada."