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EDMONTON — The Building Trades of Alberta (BTA) recently met with Premier Danielle Smith for a discussion focused on economic growth, faster project delivery and ensuring Alberta’s skilled trades workers are ready to build and sustain major projects across the province.

According to a release, the meeting brought together BTA leadership, affiliate representatives, and industry partners such as NOVA Chemicals turnaround leader Marc Wahl and Connect Group Inc. CEO Jesse Johnson.

During the discussion, participants highlighted strong alignment between the Government of Alberta’s priorities and the BTA’s Strategic Action Plan, particularly in workforce development, productivity and labour mobility.

The BTA also outlined two key priorities:

• Working with the government to develop a co-ordinated Workforce Development Strategy, including shared demand forecasting and alignment on training capacity.
• Establishing structured working groups and adopting integrated project planning to reduce delays, improve scheduling and enhance overall efficiency.

“Our focus is simple: making it easier to do the hardest work out there,” said Terry Parker, executive director of the BTA in a statement. “We want to be a reliable delivery partner for government and industry by ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time.”

Both the Government of Alberta and the BTA expressed for the establishment of a senior-level partnership table to advance workforce planning, productivity improvements and major project execution.