Through pilot funding provided by Alberta Advanced Education, Alberta Human Services, and Alberta Indigenous Relations, the Alberta Indigenous Construction Career Centres (AICCC) in Edmonton and Calgary have been operational officially since March 17, 2015. NorQuest College’s AICCC (Edmonton) is a unique client focused employment service designed to connect prospective Indigenous workers with employers recruiting for careers, specializing but not exclusively for construction. It is a partnership with NorQuest College, the Government of Alberta, First Nation communities, and industry organizations.
Our services create Indigenous skills development and employment, while at the same time, assist Alberta business and industry with key human resource objectives. It responds to a business solution to address Alberta’s growth and skilled workforce shortages by engaging the resources of our Indigenous population in urban and rural communities through career development/training and Indigenous employment opportunities to support economic development.
The AICCC receive job postings from business and industry and connect each posting with qualified Indigenous individuals registered within the Centres. All individuals registered with the Centres will receive job coaching support from a qualified Career Coach to assess qualifications, skill development requirements, and personalized job matching with positions submitted by companies who are registered members of the AICCC.
The pilot of AICCC allowed for the evaluation and measurement of outcomes and provides a foundation to assess the potential for expanding services to include geographic areas outside Alberta’s largest urban areas. The AICCC is structured to achieve the following objectives for the Government of Alberta, Indigenous Albertans, and prospective employers:
- Increase the number of work-ready Indigenous job seekers throughout the province.
- Address the workforce and skills training needs and goals of urban, rural, remote, and young Indigenous people in Alberta including opportunities for growth within their communities.
- Increase collaboration and improve coordination between industrial partners to better allow employment and internships of Indigenous workers, reducing duplication through the creation of an innovative model in the delivery of labor market programs and services for Indigenous people in Alberta, specific to the construction industry-related and careers sector.
- Collaborate with First Nations, Métis, Inuit and urban Indigenous organizations, provincial and federal governments, and educational institutions to achieve better educational outcomes for Indigenous students within the post-secondary system through technical training and career path coaching.
- Implement and maintain an interactive database of Indigenous workers to ensure beneficial and reciprocal relationships are created and maintained between potential employers and employees.
In March 2017, the AICCC received funding through the Government of Alberta who is working in partnership with the Government of Canada to provide employment support programs and services.
Space and other administrative services are provided in-kind by the College, centrally located at NorQuest College’s Edmonton Campus.
The office is professionally equipped with a resource centre for participants, a workshop room, and career coaching stations with a compliment of three full-time staff and one shared administrative support, and co-located with NorQuest College’s Student Career & Employment Services.
For more information contact us at 780.644.5907 or aiccc@norquest.ca.