Education/training

Construction Management for Internationally Educated Professionals offered at George Brown

Getting to know the Canadian market

Construction managers are at a premium, but the available talent isn't nearly as thick on the ground as it should be.

DAVID CHILTON

[ 2007-08-29 ]

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Encouraging more Canadians to enter the industry is one way to increase the skill supply of course, but there's another way to tap into the pool of recent immigrants whose training in their home countries readily lends itself to opportunities in Canada.

TWO COMPONENTS

However, before that particular pool can be tapped, those internationally educated professionals (IEP) need formal familiarization with the way things are done here. That's where George Brown College's Construction Management for Internationally Educated Professionals comes in.

Nancy Sherman, Dean of the Faculty of Technology at George Brown, says the course has two components. The first is a specially created preparatory course lasting two months, for those students who need to better their English skills. The English skills part of this year's program starts in October.

The second component is eight months of full-time study beginning in January 2008. That's when the students will learn about such matters as this country's building and labour codes, Canadian law and ethics and Canadian business culture. Following this is a four-month work placement.

"We're helping them Canadianize their experience," Sherman says.

The program at George Brown began last year, following a provincial initiative to get foreign trained construction professionals into the workforce quickly. With seed funding from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and following the two months of English instruction for those who needed it, 25 students enrolled at the college last January.

"Our current group has mostly civil engineers and architects in it," Sherman says. "They are very motivated. To be an engineer anywhere in the world, you have to train for a fair amount of time."

John Mollenhauer, president of the Toronto Construction Association, welcomes the college course. "The George Brown program is, from our perspective, very focused , and as a result, (the students) are going to have the wherewithal to be effective out of the starting blocks."

There's too much staff poaching going on in the construction industry, which really comes down to a matter of Peter robbing Paul, Mollenhauer says. What's needed are enough trained employees to satisfy all labour demands.

To be considered for the Construction Management program at George Brown, prospective students must have a degree or a diploma in a related area, and be able to function at a certain level in English. Tuition for the program is about $8,500.

12-MONTH PROGRAM

Eight months of the 12-month program consists of in-class instruction, industry speakers giving their perspective, and occasional trips off-campus. Sherman recalls that one instructor took his class to see his property north of the city, both for a day out and as an opportunity to demonstrate how wood is used in Canadian construction.

Following the eight months of in-class instruction, the last four months of the program are dedicated to work placement. As an example of how in demand the students' skills are, Sherman says nine of this year's class already have work placements confirmed and eight are awaiting an OK.

Despite the popularity of the program -- and the construction industry's demand for their skills -- George Brown will stay with a 25-student enrollment for now, says Sherman, reasoning that the course is still in its infancy and that government funding for the time being has a two-year limit.