For Andy Callicum, the timing proved perfect: when the Nuu-chah-nulth Employment and Training Program (NETP) cast about for a new supervisor, the young Mowachaht-Muchalaht member had built up a solid resume in the private sector as an employment counsellor and had already proven his skills in a temporary role at the Third Avenue office.
For Callicum, whose late father, Andy Sr., was an addictions counsellor who worked in a succession of locations both in Canada and the U.S., home was definitely a question of where he hung his hat that day.
“Our home village is in Gold River, but I’ve never lived there before. I was born in Seattle.”
Callicum said he lived in more than 20 different communities while his father practiced his trade in a wide variety of professional settings. Life was at times turbulent, but he was determined to obtain higher education.
“I lived here [Port Alberni] K through Grade 3 when my dad was elected co-chair of the [Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC)],” Callicum said. “I completed high school in Bella Bella.”
Callicum began his post-secondary at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, now First Nations University of Canada. After two years, he transferred to First Nations Studies at Vancouver Island University, where he graduated in 2006.
He spent one year as a youth worker in Ucluelet, then a second year as a truck dispatcher with Coastal Pacific Express in Nanaimo, where he worked with a number of equally-educated young people who were also still seeking a career.
Callicum got his break when he was hired as an administrative assistant at The Job Shop in Courtenay.
“I was looking for any kind of a job, and I realized I really loved it. They put me on a path to become an employment counsellor.”
Callicum worked in a resource centre, helping to create up to 15 resumes a day for walk-in clients. He then moved over to Community Futures, also in Courtenay, where he helped Employment Insurance clients start their own businesses.
At the time, Wendy Gallic was the NETP supervisor.
“In 2011, I found out there was an opening. I came in for a year as an employment counsellor when one of the staff went on maternity leave.”
Gallic subsequently left to become director of operations for Tseshaht First Nation. Callicum applied for and won the NETP supervisor position. He said he also inherited a great team.
“Everybody is really passionate about what they do,” he said. “We try to share as much of our success as we can.”
NETP runs a multitude of programs geared towards improving the employability and earning power of people in Nuu-chah-nulth communities.
Callicum said the recently created driver training program has provided many of those success stories. The goal is to prepare clients to obtain a B.C. drivers license, but the benefits far exceed getting the Novice permit.
“That’s one program where we’ve seen people’s confidence just skyrocket,” he explained. While some clients fail in their first few attempts at passing the various tests, the lessons learned in study and perseverance can be applied to many other areas in life.
But it’s only one in a full spectrum of services NETP offers.
“One of the programs that doesn’t get a lot of notice is the First Nations & Inuit Child Care program. We provide funding for 60 seats in seven different on-reserve daycares.”
Every summer, NETP provides wage subsidies to help eligible First Nations businesses or agencies to hire young people.
Youth are also eligible for both counselling and on-the-job training. Callicum said there is a focus on finding employment in fields that will be relevant to their further studies if they intend to enroll in university.
“We also do funding for anybody who wants to get into the skilled trades – anything that’s listed as a credentialed occupation with the Industrial Training Authority.”
NETP partners with institutions like North Island College, the Finishing Trades Institute and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, which offers the Bridging to Trades program.
NETP is also able to offer funding for clients who want to take short-term training for specific certifications such as First Aid Level 3, Fork Lift Operator or Small Vessel Operator Proficiency ticket.
“For us, the goal for our clients is either employment or getting them to school. If we’re able to get that for our clients, our funders see that as a good stat.”
Currently, there are a lot of skilled jobs going unfilled and a lot of workers whose job skills do not match the workplace, Callicum explained. As a result, the tourism industry on the West Coast routinely brings in temporary foreign workers while local people remain out of work because they do not have the right skills.
“There are also going to be a lot of opportunities coming up in forestry. I was participating in meetings with the Truck Loggers Association last week,” he said. “For the coastal logging workforce in B.C., between now and the year 2022, they say there will be 6,200 job openings.”
And that’s not taking into account the current resurgence in the industry, he added.
“Ninety-five per cent of those new jobs will be the result of attrition and retirement. For a lot of logging divisions, the average age is about 62.”
That means a lot of highly-skilled and highly-paid forestry jobs will be available for those who are willing to seek out and complete the training.
For more information on available training and employment programs, contact NETP at 250-723-1331.
Related: http://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2014-03-24/netp-moves-new-location-effect...
