COTR offers older worker program

The Targeted Initiative for Older Workers Program is designed to help individuals between 55 and 64 return to work.

College of the Rockies’ Kimberley campus, along with the Invermere and Fernie campuses, will be offering training to older workers thanks to a funding of $840,000 provided by the governments of BC and Canada through the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. The Targeted Initiative for Older Workers Program will provide training for individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 who are currently unemployed and looking to return to the workforce.

Co-ordinated through the Kimberley campus, training is regionally distributed and will include six sessions throughout the East Kootenay with the inaugural programs running in Cranbrook beginning October 15 and in Fernie starting on October 16. The program will then run in Invermere in November and again in Fernie in January, 2013.

Kimberley campus manager, Mike Flowers, says, “BC Stats lists the Kootenays as having the highest unemployment rate in BC at 9.4 per cent. We are hoping to help address that through this training.”

Currently, about one quarter of the East Kootenay’s population is in the 55 to 64 age bracket.

The 14-week program includes 10 weeks of instruction in areas like computers, soft skills, workplace skills and job search strategies. This will be followed by a four-week job placement. Participants will receive payment for their time in the program.

For more information on the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers Program, contact the Kimberley campus at 250-427-7116 ext. 3752 or [email protected]