About Us

Established in 1991, we are a Sector Council for the residential construction industry in the Atlantic Provinces working in conjunction with the federal government's Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the industry itself. A Board of Directors administers the Sector Council with builder/renovator representation from the four Atlantic Provinces and from organizations active in industry training and education - the Provincial Home Builders' Associations, the Atlantic Home Warranty Program and the Atlantic Home Builders' Training Board, among others.

We provide a vehicle for effective industry participation in identifying and addressing human resources issues of all sectors of the residential home building and renovation industry. We promote increased awareness within the industry of the need for an ongoing commitment to skills development - as a key investment in its future viability.

Canada is recognized as a world leader in housing technology. We work with a variety of public and private partners in the development of high quality, state-of-the-art training programs to support a more effective use of this technology in better building practices in the Atlantic Region. Several of our courses have become a standard for training elsewhere in Canada and have been delivered overseas. In 1994, the Atlantic Housing Professional Studies course was taken to Russia as part of the Team Canada initiative to develop housing entrepreneurial skills among soldiers returning from military service. In 1996, our courses were included as part of a centre for Canadian educational and technical resources with a pilot renovation project in Lithuania. More recently, we have been working as a member of a consortium, identifying training to support the export of high quality Canadian manufactured housing to Europe.

In Atlantic Canada, close to 5,000 builders, renovators, sub-trades, carpenters, labourers, designers and inspectors have taken our courses. We have provided exposure to expert industry trainers from across Canada, while at the same time working to establish closer working relationships with community colleges in our region. We are committed to cooperating with the public education institutions in the Atlantic Provinces to ensure an ongoing transfer of industry knowledge and expertise into their training programs. We view this as an opportunity to assist the colleges in upgrading their industry curriculum and the skills of their teachers.

We have also participated with the Atlantic Home Builders' Training Board (AHBTB) in the initiation of several public-private sector consultations in the following areas:

• Labour market planning and adjustment
• Industry certification and apprenticeship training
• Career counselling for the seasonally unemployed
• Customized approach to industry health and safety issues
• Development of consistent, national standards for industry training

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