This year, Canadians honour and celebrate the contributions and heritage of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples throughout Canada’s history on the fifth annual National Indigenous People’s Day. June 21, the summer solstice and longest day of the year, was chosen because many Indigenous communities celebrate their culture and heritage today. But even the longest day of the year is too short to encompass Canada’s complex relationship with its Indigenous people.
Canada’s Building Trades Unions recognize the contributions Indigenous people have made to build Canada. We continue to strive to make our unions, jobsites, and the construction industry as a whole, more inclusive. And, we’re proud of the work taking place across the country, including our Offices to Advance Women Apprentices that set out and exceeded their goal to register 30 per cent Indigenous clients. The federally funded Apprentices Services Grant program, In the Trades, is connecting Indigenous Peoples with employers to get started on a career in the skilled trades. Our Indigenous Awareness Training has been taken by hundreds of building trades leaders and will be relaunched through the Construction Trades Hub virtual learning portal to make the training even more widely available. There is a spot for everyone to succeed in one of the many skilled trades that we represent, and we stand ready to continue to break down barriers and create opportunities for Indigenous peoples in the construction industry.
