June 27, 2023 (Southern Interior, BC) – The Construction Foundation of BC’s (CFBC) All Roads program works with Indigenous participants, communities and cohorts to develop career pathways and achieve personal goals. Led by First Nations professionals since 2019, All Roads has collaborated with participants in multiple communities throughout BC. Each participant’s unique aspirations and goals provides a foundation for the development of individualized roadmaps.
Along with the collecting of All Roads’ standardized information, participants are asked to share their personal journeys and stories to help the All Roads team begin to understand the needs of each individual. This component of the All Roads intake process is the lengthiest, providing much-needed insight required to develop the eventual roadmap that both participants and support staff will be held accountable to.
“Participants have an opportunity to openly talk about their story,” explained CFBC Director of First Nation Initiatives, Michelle Canaday. “They can share all their experiences and challenges that they’ve faced and it becomes a very personal story that is driven by them.”
The sharing of personal stories by participants has brought out cultural connections to the First Nation communities’ traditional method of sharing knowledge through storytelling.
“I think why the Zoom call discussions work so well with participants is because it takes them back to our traditional way of knowing and sharing information through oral stories,” added Canaday. “It was always something that amazed me at how quickly participants would open up and share some really deep and personal info about their past experiences. When I think about it today and I put it into a cultural context, it makes sense why it becomes so natural for them.”
From participants’ storytelling pieces, the All Roads team is able to compile the elements needed to develop the roadmap component. Each roadmap includes three progress markers to incorporate; a skills training plan; obtain employment and/or begin
substantive education or training; and complete three months of employment and/or substantive education or training dependent on the roadmap’s overall length and objectives. Participants are able to adjust their roadmap as they move through the program, if desired.
Outcomes for each roadmap also vary according to the individual, ranging in scope from the desire to obtain basic skills training for specific sectors of industry, to developing a desired goal or outcome through various pre-employment exercises and experiences. Depending on the complexity or support required to develop a suitable roadmap and achieve the goals contained within it, the All Roads journey can vary in length from months to years. The All Roads team remains present throughout this process, continuing to “walk with” participants at all stages of their journey.
“This one individual worked with almost every All Roads team member on multiple occasions over the span of two years,” recalled Canaday. “There was so many pieces that arose because he embraced the process that comes from All Roads and we walked through so many layers of trauma with him.
We were pulling in multiple resources as we were hitting each layer. We’re not qualified counsellors so we would find the right professionals who work well with participants. At the end of it all, he met all his roadmap outcomes. It took two years.”
All Roads continues to support participants for extended periods of time after they have achieved the goals set out in their roadmap. Like the roadmaps themselves, there is an undetermined timeline with regards to supporting individuals—an example of the “walking with” mantra that has been developed.
“The All Roads process is about validating and finding ways for participants to see their own true reflection in the mirror, not one that’s clouded by life obstacles and generational trauma,” concluded Canaday. “There’s a person standing behind all that and it’s really about shining the light on what they bring to the table, validating it and then moving forward from there.”
All Roads has been made possible because of the support from SkilledTradesBC and funding through the Workforce Development Agreement. Collaboration with SkilledTradesBC and communities has enabled more individuals to explore trades employment and training possibilities within their own community.
