Engaging Indigenous communities in construction projects has grown increasingly important.
The perennial problem in the world of contracting on First Nations projects has always been using the local capacity. For various reasons, it’s been challenging for contractors to find significant numbers of individuals who live on reserves and are ready and able to fill construction positions.
Decades ago, as a general contractor, Bosgoed Project Consultants (BPC) tried something different; we went to the community first in our search for workers. It worked so well that we kept doing it, and WorkFirst was born.
Essentially, WorkFirst addresses the difficulties in bringing workers to a project. We challenge the traditional approach of selecting a contractor and then seeing what’s available for the community. We flip over that entire paradigm by going to the community first. By identifying what they can do and then going to outsiders afterward, we are not looking to outsiders to dictate that agenda. WorkFirst, therefore, is meant to give the community work first for the entire project. Over the years, BPC has developed this unique process to improve construction engagement from concept stage through to project handover.
We’ve been using this approach for years, and we’d like to share our stories with you on a weekly basis. Welcome to WorkFirst Wednesdays!
Our question to you; what workforce engagement strategies have you tried? Are there any challenges or successes you would like to share?
We would love to hear from you! We are all in this journey together.
~ Gary and the staff at BPC
