According to the latest Labour Market Outlook Report, more than one million job openings are expected in the next decade and the majority of those will require some level of post-secondary education and training. The theme of this year’s Global News and 980 CKNW Future of Work series is timely with the labour outlook in BC – training the workforce of the tomorrow.
As BCIT has been instrumental in connecting education, industry, and government in building an agile workforce with sustained and meaningful impact, BCIT experts shared their insights into what the future of work looks like in their respective fields.
Advancing Reconciliation in the workforce
Kory Wilson (Kwakwaka’wakw), Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships, created and led the launch of the BCIT Indigenous Vision. Kory spoke with CKNW Host Simi Sara about what it means to build Indigeneity into education, and how this extends into the workplace.
There are over 1,500 indigenous students enrolled at BCIT, and nearly 1,000 staff and faculty have taken Indigenous 101 training to support understanding and reciprocity among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. BCIT offers Indigenous Awareness as a free course to provide learners with foundational knowledge of Indigenous people in the hopes that as the true history and contemporary reality of Indigenous people is more broadly known, Reconciliation can begin. Kory says these modules are important across workplaces and industries.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of job you do in BC, you have to have an understanding and respect for Indigenous people and our history,” explains Kory.
Listen to Kory speak about advancing Reconciliation in the workforce.
The rapidly changing realm of forensic sciences
Dr. Dean Hildebrand, Dean, BCIT School of Computing and Academic Studies, was on the CKNW Jill Bennett show to discuss the rapidly changing realm of forensic sciences. For over a decade Dean has worked with the BC Coroners Service as a subject matter expert to develop and now maintain the unidentified remains and missing person DNA database for the province of BC. Dean attributes the success of this program to the strength of BCIT in delivering an applied education. “Forensics is a highly applied discipline, so it fits really nicely in the model of BCIT,” he explain.
BCIT Forensics DNA Lab, founded by Dean, is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada – the same level of accreditation held by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Forensic DNA Lab. BCIT is the only academic Institute in Canada to hold this distinction.
Listen to Dean discuss the rapidly changing realm of forensic sciences.
Cybersecurity in 2023 and beyond
With the world continuing to evolve digitally, cybersecurity is more important than ever, especially in industrial settings. Power grids that distribute electricity to homes, railroads that help transport food supply, and cell towers that enable communications, are all industrial systems that are critical to supporting a country’s infrastructure. Increasing technology within these systems make the operations become targets of cyberattacks. Roger Gale, Program Head, Industrial Network Cybersecurity program, joined CKNW Host Jill Bennett to discuss the current state of cybersecurity and what the future holds for it. The Industrial Network Cybersecurity program is the first of its kind in Canada that is designed to train skilled professionals to protect industrial network from cybersecurity threats.
Listen to Roger discuss cybersecurity in 2023 and beyond.
BCIT programs are taught by industry experts across the workforce. Learn more about embarking on a learning path with BCIT.
Have you subscribed? Sign-up to receive the latest news on BCIT.