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EV skills-training course begins at �þ���Ƶ College

“With more than 60,000 electric vehicles on the road, British Columbia is leading the country in the transition to EVs,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “We’re supporting this transition by helping auto technicians develop the skills they need to work on EVs throughout the province. This will give British Columbians the confidence to go electric knowing their EVs can be serviced by a professional.”

In March 2021, the Province announced $440,000 for the expansion of EV Maintenance Training program through the CleanBC Go Electric program to three additional B.C. colleges in partnership with Trades Training BC. The program provides Red Seal automotive technicians with the skills they need to work on EVs, supports the growing demand for EVs in B.C. and prepares British Columbians for good-paying jobs in the burgeoning clean-energy economy.

The program is being piloted as two one-week in-person courses at �þ���Ƶ College’s Interurban campus in Greater Victoria and is offered regularly at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) Burnaby campus, where the program was launched in 2020. Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus and the College of New Caledonia’s Prince George campus held course pilots this year.

“Our government is helping people get the skills and training they need for job opportunities in B.C.’s clean economy,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. “By working with �þ���Ƶ and other post-secondary institutions through CleanBC, we’re supporting B.C.’s growing electric-vehicle sector and building a better future together where all cars and trucks emit zero pollution.”

The EV Maintenance Training program aligns with the recently released CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, which details a range of expanded actions to accelerate the transition to a net-zero future and to achieve B.C.’s legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets. These actions include strengthening the Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) Act to require automakers to meet an escalating annual percentage of new light-duty ZEV sales and leases, reaching 26% of light-duty vehicle sales by 2026, 90% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, which would be five years ahead of the original target.