We’re developing the capacity of people, businesses and organizations. From human resources expertise to succession planning, from wage subsidies to staff training, the Skills Centre can help your business succeed.

Support for Business

Inside Job Consulting

Teck Wellness & Learning Centre

Mining & Refining for Women

RISE takes a holistic approach to support people who are job ready and are experiencing barriers to employment. The program offers employment counselling, skills training, financial supports, and wage subsidies. We offer personalized services for participants to improve your mental and emotional well-being.
Are you ready to work? Our RISE program can help you.

RISE is available to people in the West Kootenay &amp; Boundary areas, including Grand Forks, Trail, Fruitvale, Rossland, Castlegar, Salmo, Nelson &amp; surrounding areas. We can help you get training &amp; find a job. And we can serve you in a variety of languages.
Apply online, call us or drop by our office to get started today.

RISE: Renew, Inspire, Support, Engage

RISE offers personalized employment assistance services, skills training, and financial support.
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>We will provide you with individualized support for occupational skills training, employment readiness workshops, community supports, and personal supports for your physical, emotional and mental well-being.</li>
<li>We will help you create and build your own networks, supports and friendships within our community.</li>
<li>We’ll also help you make connections with employers and offer wage subsidies to get you started in a job.</li>
<li>RISE can provide up to $2,000 for skills training, certificates, fees and books.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

RISE will meet your unique needs

<div class="react-mde react-mde-tabbed-layout">
<div class="mde-preview" data-testid="mde-preview">
<div class="mde-preview-content">
<ul>
<li>We&#8217;ll provide workshops on job searching today, updating your resume, and interview skills</li>
<li>And workshops on soft skills including communication, confidence, team work, interpersonal skills, age in the workplace, coping skills (such as stress or shift work), health and wellness, mental health &amp; self-care</li>
<li>You will be able to access childcare, transportation, work clothing, work gear, technology equipment, mental health supports such as counseling and equine assisted learning, physical health supports such as a gym pass or yoga class</li>
</ul>
Talk to us today &amp; let&#8217;s get you started.
</div>
</div>
</div>

Our personal supports will be flexible depending on your needs

Sparking Opportunities is a new program to help people with a physical or mental barrier or disability find self-employment opportunities to work from home. Do you have a physical, mental, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment, or limitation that hinders your ability to work? Are you interested in home-based self employment?

Sparking Opportunities is available to people throughout the Kootenay &amp; Boundary regions, including Grand Forks, Greenwood, Nelson, Creston, Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, Cranbrook, Fernie, Invermere &amp; surrounding communities.
Apply online, call us or drop by our office to get started today.

Sparking Opportunities

Karina Allis is your Sparking Opportunities facilitator.

Meet your facilitator

If you have a permanent or recurring physical, mental, neurodevelopmental, or any other barrier or disability that restricts your ability to perform daily activities and require assistance to prepare for, obtain and keep employment or self-employment, or advance your career, you may be eligible.
We offer service in English, Spanish &amp; Filipino.

Sparking Opportunities is available in the Kootenay & Boundary regions

<ul>
<li>Essential skills workshops</li>
<li>Psychological first aid</li>
<li>Entrepreneurial assessment</li>
<li>Start-up training</li>
<li>Communications &amp; marketing training Financial training</li>
<li>Counselling sessions</li>
<li>Holistic supports such as yoga, art therapy, equine-assisted learning &amp; mindfulness</li>
<li>Get financial support to purchase a laptop</li>
</ul>

Access short term training specific for your needs:

Interested in a trades and industry job, but not sure if it&#8217;s right for you?
If you&#8217;re a young woman in grade 10 &#8211; 12, a woman living with low income, or a gender diverse individual, join the IFIT program and get paid to attend job shadow placements that we facilitate.

We&#8217;re launching our first job shadows this month with heavy duty mechanics, carpentry &amp; cabinet making. Transportation costs and meals are covered.
March 18th at 1 pm: Presentation from CMAW Carpenter&#8217;s Union at the Skills Centre 
March 28th at 10 am: Presentation from Forte Projects at the Skills Centre
Secure your spot today.

Inclusive Futures in Industry & Trades (IFIT)

This new program is now available and running in Trail, Castlegar, and Nelson and surrounding areas until 2027.
Upcoming events: 
&#8211; March 18th at 1 pm: Presentation from CMAW Carpenter&#8217;s Union at the Skills Centre 
&#8211; March 28th at 10 am: Presentation from Forte Projects at the Skills Centre 
&#8211; Date TBA: Site Visit at Summit Repair in Salmo 
&#8211; Date TBA: Site Visit with Nelson Hydro
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Learn about trades & industrial jobs in the West Kootenays

Talk to people who work in the trades and industry jobs. Talk to employers about the opportunities, training and career options. Provide feedback on your experience to support workplace policy changes.
In groups of 2-6 people, we will take you on a job shadow at a local trade or industrial business. Participants will be paid $100 per site visit.
Then we&#8217;ll debrief to discuss what we learned and what we can tell employers about barriers you see to employment in the trades and industry sector. The job shadow and debrief will all be done in a single day.

Explore local trades

Help local trades and industry employers break down barriers in the workplace. With your feedback, and a review of their policies and practices, we&#8217;ll help employers identify steps they can take to create a more inclusive workplace where women and gender diverse people can feel safe, comfortable and thrive in their new job.

Your feedback is important

For those looking to jump-start or further their careers, the Skills Centre is an authorized Pearson Vue Testing Centre.

Having a local proctored testing centre allows you to take exams to become qualified in your field without having to obtain certification.

Pearson Vue Test Facility

<section class="grid grid-cols-1 lg:grid-cols-2 gap-6 sm:gap-10 md:gap-16 lg:gap-20 pb-24">
<div class="my-auto lg:py-20">
<div class="pt-6">
<div class="minordown">
Certification exams for companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, HP, and CompTIA are available at the Skills Centre.
From the <a href="https://home.pearsonvue.com/test-taker.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pearson Vue Test Takers web page</a>, you can search for designated exams and register online to come in and write the required exams.
Pearson Vue offers proctored, online testing and certification for hundreds of credentialed organizations in a variety of sectors, including:
<ul>
<li>Academic entrance and admissions to various institutions</li>
<li>Information Technology</li>
<li>Financial and related services</li>
<li>Government</li>
<li>Health Care</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section>

The Pearson Vue Testing Facility offers:

Older workers like you are returning to the workforce for various reasons, including longer life expectancy, increasing need for financial security, and changing views on traditional retirement. If you&#8217;re over 50, our RISE 50+ program can help you get the job you want. We work with you individually or you can join a small group of other like-minded learners and work with us to get or refresh the skills and certifications you need to be competitive in the labour market. Our goal is to get you working.

RISE 50+ is available to people in the West Kootenay &amp; Boundary areas, including Grand Forks, Trail, Fruitvale, Rossland, Castlegar, Salmo, Nelson &amp; surrounding areas. You’re not alone. We’re here to help you.
Apply online, call us or drop by our office to get started today.

Mature Workers: RISE 50+

Karina Allis changed career tracks as a mature worker to become an employment counsellor. Her experience making a career and employment transition is key to successfully supporting job seekers. She knows her stuff, and she knows how to help people find the confidence and comfort level to learn new skills and find a new job at any stage of their life.

<ul>
<li>Food Safe</li>
<li>WHMIS</li>
<li>Super Host</li>
<li>First Aid training</li>
<li>Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training</li>
<li>Naloxone</li>
<li>Mental Health First Aid</li>
<li>Basic Security Training Certification</li>
</ul>

We offer job specific certificates such as:

<ul>
<li>Workshops on job searching today, updating your resume, and interview skills</li>
<li>Workshops on soft skills including communication, confidence, team work, interpersonal skills, age in the workplace, coping skills (such as stress or shift work), health and wellness, mental health &amp; self-care</li>
<li>Job placement support including wage subsidies and connecting you with employers</li>
<li>Funding for transportation, required work clothing or gear, criminal record check, and more.</li>
</ul>

We offer workshops such as:

Let’s get ready for work! Boost your social, mental, physical and emotional well-being while we help you develop the skills to get ready for a job. Grow your resiliency and soft skills, access counselling and financial support, and break down barriers to employment, all with the help of healing and learning through equine-assisted training.
If you are a newcomer, a refugee, a member of a racialized group, a person with a disability, or an Indigenous person, you may be eligible for this pre-employment program.

Our final HEART session is over &amp; we hope to be able to offer it again. You can include elements of equine-assisted learning, medicine wheel coaching, and art therapy in some of our other programs. Ask one of our project specialists for more info.
Learn more about Kim Robertson &amp; holistic life coaching <a href="https://skillscentre.ca/resources/news/view/heart-gets-you-in-shape-with-yoga-life-coaching" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Find out more about equine-assisted learning with Rebecca <a href="https://skillscentre.ca/resources/news/view/no-horsing-around-heart-heals-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> and Leah <a href="https://skillscentre.ca/resources/news/view/what-horses-teach-us-about-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Learn more about art therapy <a href="https://skillscentre.ca/resources/news/view/art-for-hearts-sake" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

HEART: Healing through Equine Assistance & Resiliency Training

Zoe Dowdall is our facilitator for HEART. She&#8217;s always ready to listen and offer guidance and will make sure you&#8217;re getting the most out of your experience with the Skills Centre.

Equine-assisted learning uses horses to promote physical, occupational and emotional growth in people. It can help you build confidence, trust, and self-efficiency, improve communication and social skills, learn boundary setting and control triggers.

HEART is a skills development program in the Kootenay/Boundary region that includes foundational and transferable skills, social and emotional skills, and equine assisted learning. It is a pre-employment program to improve your overall well-being and employment readiness.

Participants will also receive individual counselling supports and a training grant. Other financial supports include childcare, nourishment, transportation, pre-employment counselling appointments, training and wrap-around services.

HEART offers workshops on topics such as:

Access
<ul>
<li>counselling sessions</li>
<li>art therapy</li>
<li>psychological first aid course</li>
<li>mental health first aid course</li>
<li>Indigenous Canada course</li>
</ul>

Group workshops & individual work

Do you face barriers to finding or keeping a job? Have you survived trauma, violence or abuse, or does your mental health affect your ability to work? If you feel that you would benefit from a supportive training environment to find employment, RISE is for you. Our holistic approach to training will prepare you for the job that you want. Together we will work to create a plan that addresses mental, physical and emotional supports to help you move forward in your employment journey.
From the moment you open the front door, we will make sure you feel safe and comfortable. All of our staff have participated in trauma informed workplace training and mental health first aid.

<div class="react-mde react-mde-tabbed-layout">
<div class="mde-preview" data-testid="mde-preview">
<div class="mde-preview-content">
RISE is available to people in the West Kootenay &amp; Boundary areas, including Grand Forks, Trail, Fruitvale, Rossland, Castlegar, Salmo, Nelson &amp; surrounding areas. Contact us to see if our RISE program is the right fit for you.
Apply online, call us or drop by our office to get started today.
</div>
</div>
</div>

RISE: Facing Adversity

Karina Allis has delivered trauma informed employment supports in group and individual settings for the past eight years here at the Skills Centre. She knows her stuff, and she knows how to help people find the confidence and comfort level to learn new skills and find a new job at any stage of their life.

<ul>
<li>Workshops on setting boundaries, healthy communication, self-care, impacts of abuse and shame, stress and anger management, self-esteem, self-awareness, yoga and mindfulness</li>
<li>Access to free short and long term certificates and upgrades</li>
<li>Workshops on job searches, resume writing, and interview skills</li>
<li>Job placement support including wage subsidies and matching you with an employer</li>
<li>Funding for transportation and childcare, refreshments on workshop days, required work clothing or gear, and a small weekly stipend</li>
</ul>

We offer:

We will work with you individually or you can join a small group of other participants and work with us to get or refresh the skills and certifications you need to be competitive in the labour market.

How it works

Your people drive your success. We support your business to succeed.

Inside Job Consulting (IJC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Skills Centre. Since 2010, IJC has provided services focusing on human resources knowledge and skills development, wellness programs and workforce development within the Lower Columbia Region.

About Inside Job Consulting

Our experienced consultants offer human resources services tailored to meet the needs and unique challenges of each person and business. Whether you need assistance with your job search or professional development, our consultants will provide the expertise, support and guidance customized to meet your needs. We offer individual services as well as group workshops to assist you with your career and your business’s success.

Health and wellness programs improve employee productivity and help create a positive work environment, help reduce employee absenteeism, attract desirable employees and enhance employee engagement.

Through the Skills Centre’s wholly owned subsidiary, Inside Job Consulting (IJC), we support the promotion of wellness and learning for employees and employers.

Our best example of our success is the Teck Wellness &amp; Learning Centre. We work with Teck Metals Ltd. to organize short courses, sports and fitness activities, and health and wellness awareness campaigns.
Inside Job Consulting has over 10 years of experience facilitating workplace learning and wellness programs for employers in the Lower Columbia Region.

Our success

IJC can facilitate individual pay-per-use courses or comprehensive programs for employers focussed on enhancing employees’ overall health and wellness. We can also develop general interest programs that can help your workplace become a first choice for job seekers.
IJC’s wellness and learning programs can be held at the employer’s facility as a ‘Lunch and Learn’ format or after hours in a classroom-based format for more in-depth programs

Mining and Refining for Women is one of the Skills Centre’s great success stories. 
Mining and Refining for Women has enhanced the retention, advancement and career development opportunities of women in positions ranging from front-line production and maintenance to professional roles in the mining and metallurgic industries.
Together with Teck Metals Ltd. and Bock and Associates, with funding provided by Status of Women Canada, this was a 30 month mentorship project to support women employed in non-traditional roles at Teck Metals in Trail.

The project involved two cohorts with a total of 34 women along with their mentors and a robust sponsorship team. In addition to working with mentors and participating in workshops, each participant completed an Affinity Project addressing an issue related to women and non-traditional employment.

With completion of this pilot project, Teck Trail Operations moved ahead with a secondary strategy to utilize internal people to develop and drive a diversity plan, including establishing Diversity Committee. They announced a 30 x 30 target of 30% of their workforce would be women by 2030.

The result

<ul>
<li>Maternity/paternity leave policy development</li>
<li>Networking events across business areas</li>
<li>Increased awareness of gender diversity within Teck’s Trail Operations</li>
<li>Posting and succession planning processes</li>
<li>Development of a Quick Guide (easy access information for employees)</li>
<li>Bridging the gap in community perception and promotion of career opportunities for women</li>
<li>Industrial lifting devices that mitigate physically demanding tasks</li>
<li>Family friendly workplace practices, including research of childcare and family sick days</li>
</ul>

The Affinity Projects addressed topics including:

As a result of the mentorship relationships, the Affinity Projects and the conversations within the project’s sponsorship team, other project successes include:
<ul>
<li>greater transparency in career advancement opportunities, including more job postings</li>
<li>new kinds of conversations, including career mentorship and sponsorship, awareness of gender differences and the accommodation of family needs; and</li>
<li>people at all levels taking on leadership to make a difference</li>
</ul>

A healthy, thriving, family friendly community. That’s the vision many Trail residents have for the city, and more than 140 residents recently helped create a plan to make it happen.
It’s called Thriving for All: A Plan for Healthy Communities in Our Rural City, and it focuses on reducing or eliminating poverty as the key to a healthy community.

What is Thriving for All?

A living wage sets a higher standard than the minimum wage: it is what a family needs to earn to provide the basic needs based on the actual costs of living in a community. Living Wage Canada notes that it gets families out of severe financial stress, lifts them out of poverty and provides a basic level of economic security.

We're a Living Wage Employer

According to First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society&#8217;s 2024 <a href="https://firstcallbc.org/2024-bc-child-poverty-report-card/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BC Child Poverty Report Card</a>, 892,000 people in BC live below the poverty line &#8211; more than 147,000 are children. We are leading the way in bringing awareness to poverty issues in the area and finding solutions for the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Our mission is to reduce poverty and build a community in which everyone is thriving and feels included.

Thriving for All

Community Kitchens invites people living with low income to participate in meal preparation once a week, creating an increased sense of community as well as improved food security. Participants prepare enough food that day for their household and learn budgeting skills along with food preparation ideas.
Community Kitchens offers a weekly get together where our coordinator helps participants select inexpensive food, focused on what is readily available at the foodbank and on sale at local grocers. It is an opportunity to prepare and enjoy food as a group, allowing participants social as well as nutritional benefits.
Community Kitchens is running its last session of the spring right now. We are always looking for funding and ways to make it a year-round offering. Contact us if you&#8217;d like to get on the list to attend or if you have questions about supporting Community Kitchens.
A big thank you to our current Community Kitchens supporters, Coldest Night of the Year, Trail Safeway, Hamber Foundation, and First Presbyterian Church, Trail.

Community Kitchens

The Skills Centre is one of <a href="https://www.livingwagebc.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">450 certified living wage employers in BC</a> that has stepped up to pay direct and contract employees wages sufficient to support families. The living wage is the hourly rate that each of two parents working full-time must earn to support a family of four based on the actual costs of living in a particular community. It is different from the minimum wage.
The living wage affords a decent, but modest, standard of living without the extras many of us take for granted. It does not cover credit card, loan or other debt payments, savings for retirement or for children’s future education or the costs of caring for a disabled, seriously ill or elderly family member.
Housing and food costs in particular continue to soar. The financial relief provided by government measures&#8211;such as affordable childcare programs and increases in benefits connected to income&#8211;was intended to help offset rising costs, but is outpaced by the rising cost of rent.
We advocate to businesses and organizations to pay a living wage. We also advocate for government to address these issues to make life more affordable for everyone, and to make it easier for employers to pay their workers a living wage.

We advocate for a living wage

Our food security programs come under one umbrella called Roots to Table. It includes:
<ul>
<li>Community Kitchens</li>
<li>Our garden box project</li>
<li>Food preservation (helping people learn to can, dehydrate and freeze dry food)</li>
</ul>
Ecclesiastical Insurance, through their <a href="https://ecclesiastical.ca/giving-back/community-impact-grant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Community Impact Grant</a>, is the main funder of our food security programming.
Other funders include:
<ul>
<li>United Way</li>
<li>Gore Mutual</li>
<li>Coldest Night of the Year, Safeway, and individuals who donate to Community Kitchens</li>
</ul>

Roots to Table: food security programs

Everyone should have equal access to recreational and cultural amenities in our communities. Another of our poverty reduction initiatives is the Common Access Card. It is a simple, streamlined way to offer low-barrier access to recreation, leisure, and cultural activities in our communities to people living with low income.
The Common Access Card allows people to enjoy these services with dignity and a single vetting process: show the card and you get the discount rather than having to apply at each place. Getting the card means the person or family has been vetted and qualifies for the discounts. No extra questions, no fuss.
The Common Access Card works for recreation services in Trail, Rossland, Warfield and Beaver Valley (run by RDKB). New this spring is the addition of the Bailey Theatre in Trail for select shows.

Common Access Card

Working poverty is a complex issue. It describes people who work full time yet still do not have enough financial resources to support their basic needs of adequate shelter and food. We’re aiming to change that in Trail.
Building Community Resilience by Ending Working Poverty is a new collaboration between five communities across Canada, and Trail is the BC participant. The others are Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Drumheller, Alberta.
Together, we will reduce the number of individuals and families working yet still living in poverty by 5% in our community.
By looking at working poverty and aiming to reduce it in Trail, we will create a place where more of our residents can thrive and prosper.
Heather is our poverty reduction specialist working on this initiative. Contact Heather to learn more.

Support for Business

Inside Job Consulting

About Inside Job Consulting

How it works

Inquire today