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The provincial government will soon be giving timber harvesting contractors a financial boost with new tax credits for job training.
Premier Christy Clark made the announcement at the Truck Logger Association’s annual convention, laying out a plan to work with the TLA to create tax breaks for on-the-ground training aimed at B.C. timber harvesting contractors.
“The average age of a tree faller is 57. You’ve got a 50 per cent retirement rate that you’re looking down the barrel at over the next five years,” Clarke told the convention.
David Elstone, the executive director of the TLA, said Clark’s announcement shows the government recognizes the “unique challenges” facing timber harvesting contractors.
“You can’t send someone to school for logging. So much of the work has to be learned on the ground from people who’ve worked in the industry a long time. It’s really an apprentice-type situation,” he said.
He said he hopes the tax credits will help contractors invest in new employees before the older generation of loggers retires and “we lose all the know-how.”
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