In the Spotlight: Bladerunners

BladeRunners is the name given to participants of this initiative and provides Aboriginal youth with work experience and training in construction and related trades.

Each participant is entitled to 1120 hours of training over a 6.5 month time period. A three dollar subsidy is paid directly to an employer who must contribute a minimum of an additional eight dollars. The BladeRunners subsidy is intentionally modest to induce sincere employer participation.

In recognition of both the cyclical nature of the construction industry and the multiple barrers facing participants, BladeRunners have 18 months to expend the subsidy. Participants whose subsidy has expired are called “Senior BladeRunners” and continue to receive mentoring and support as needed. Senior BladeRunners, in turn, often act as mentors for new recruits.

The objectives of this program are:

• to identify and recruit participants aged 19-28 who have multiple barriers to employment
• to provide local, meaningful work experience for participants in construction and related trades, with training to enhance long-term employment prospects.
• to create ongoing support for participants to ensure long-term attachment to the workforce, and where possible, laddering individuals into apprenticeship positions in the trades.
• to maintain and strengthen existing partnerships with community organizations, employers and the building trade unions.

The BladeRunner program began with a 1994 pilot, which offered employment for street-involved young people, aged 19 to 29. They were offred work on the construction of the GM Place arena in Vancouver and later the Ford Theatre and Collingwood Village projects. The program eventually expanded to nine sites around the province.

Until 2002, the program was funded and administered by the Province’s Community Development Unit. Now the provincial initiative is managed by A.C.C.E.S.S. and the Vancouverproject is co-funded and administrered by A.C.C.E.S.S. Key stakeholders include community groups, employers, the building trade unions and different levels of government.

The total cost of the program per participant is $10,000 including the training and in one year the Return on Training inventmand averages $12,500 per participant. This does not include the multitude of other savings to the social infrastructure such as health, education, and justice. In fact the BladeRUnners initiative has demonstrated such a tremendous value to the community that private sector employers have also contributed to the program.

Each year 50 participants take the A.C.C.E.S.S. training and are given work placement in construction related trades. After two years, 80 per cent of participants are still employed and 75 per cent of participants continue to work in construction with half of those entering into apprenticeships in the trades field.

This story first appeared in Issue Two of the National Report on Aboriginal Inclusion.

For more information on the program, visit the Bladerunners website.