Wraparound supports help Indigenous students enter trades

Growing up in Alberta, Abigail Franson always looked up to tradespeople. 

“I was drawn to that blue-collar lifestyle,” she said. “They inspired me. I was always seeing them go to work early to care for their families. I wanted to be like that.”

After moving to B.C. with her family as a teen, she got her opportunity. 

As an Indigenous person, she found her way to Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS), one of the most comprehensive Indigenous training providers in Canada. Their goal is to provide a variety of employment and training programs and services to urban Indigenous peoples in Vancouver.

“They were my mentor and provided guidance during my five-year electrical apprenticeship,” said Franson. “They took care of a lot of the organization and scheduling. It was great for me. I just had to show up and I was never on my own.  

ACCESS’ all-Indigenous team supports clients by meeting them where they are, helping them with complete educational requirements, partnering with various organizations and corporations for training cohorts and employment opportunities, and ensuring that Indigenous cultural components are incorporated into their training and support experience.

As an Indigenous woman, Franson is a rarity on the jobsite. Women make up only 5% of Canada’s construction trade workforce, and Indigenous women represent an even smaller percentage. Women have long faced discrimination in the trades and Indigenous people have also faced many barriers. Despite this, Franson believes the industry has improved. 

“Every day is getting better,” she said. “The culture is changing in construction. Five years ago, you’d get people who made jokes about you being Indigenous and stuff, but it has changed so much and you don’t get that much anymore. For being a woman, it’s just about as hard as being a woman anywhere. That is our culture, but construction specifically has become more accepting.” 

Lynn White, President and CEO of ACCESS, has been with the organization for nearly 20 years. She explained that there are roughly 70,000 Indigenous people in the Metro Vancouver Area living away from their home or who aren’t connected to their home. Trades jobs are one of their biggest areas of focus. Her goal is to remove all barriers to these high-paying careers. 

“It can be as simple as bus passes and all the way to living allowances or emergency needs,” said White. “One thing that makes this so successful is we provide a job coach who is attached to a cohort to touch base with them, encourage them, all the way through to Red Seal.”

To help aspiring electricians like Franson, ACCESS partnered with the Electrical Joint Training Committee and SkillPlan to create a program for students to up their credentials so they can begin trades training. 

Since its development, the pathway has provided training for 140 individuals. 46 have completed level 4 and 27 have their Red Seals. 25% are women.

Companies have begun to take notice, including Seaspan and Houle electric who regularly hire graduates of the programs. 

White explained that for many Indigenous people, obtaining a career and financial freedom is a profound experience. 

“A lot of our Indigenous people are at the poverty line or below,” she said. “We are in a cycle and can’t move forward. This affects their whole life.”

At one of ACCESS’ recent graduation ceremonies, a student who had just completed their foundation level, spoke about being able to take his family to the grocery store and and told them to put whatever they wanted in the cart.

“He paid cash and he was so proud to be able to do that,” said White. “It’s lifechanging. It gives people opportunity and hope.”