OLIVER – Skilled trades students in the Okanagan-Similkameen and Boundary school districts will benefit from a three-year, $15-million investment by the B.C. government to support youth trades programs with the purchase of new trades training equipment.

* School District 51 (Boundary) is receiving $122,429 over the next three years for the purchase of equipment including a metal melting furnace, air compressors and table saws.
* School District 53 (Okanagan-Similkameen) is receiving $174,443 over the next three years to purchase equipment including table saws, band saws and routers.

The Youth Trades Capital Equipment Program will see $7.5 million dispersed during the current school year. The remaining $7.5 million will be distributed in 2017-18 ($4 million) and 2018-19 ($3.5 million).

Of the $7.5 million being distributed this year, more than $5 million is going to school districts in rural B.C. Over the program’s three years, more than $9 million of the $15-million total will be distributed to rural school districts.

This investment in rural communities supports the recently announced “Building on our Rural Advantages: B.C.’s Rural Economic Development Strategy”. The strategy outlines the Province’s long-term vision to ensure British Columbians in all regions have the opportunity for well-paying jobs and a high quality of life in their community.

Fifty-nine B.C. school districts are receiving youth trades capital funding over the next three years, 42 of which are in rural B.C.

The Youth Trades Capital Equipment Program is designed to:

* Increase participation and successful completion of youth trades programs and the number of students that continue on to further trades training programs;
* Ensure school districts have safe and appropriate modern trades equipment to support the delivery of trades training programs;
* Gain a better understanding of current inventory and future need for youth trades equipment in each district.