Industrial designers association to provide unique training with help through Canada - B.C. cultural
VICTORIA, August 14, 1995 - The B.C. Industrial Designers Association will use assistance under the Canada-B.C. Agreement on Communications and Cultural Industries to provide training to its members to improve their competitive capability, Canadian Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy and B.C. Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture Bill Barlee announced today.The Association will deliver a series of six professional training courses, focussing on improving product quality and marketability, and enhancing the process of professional design application. The training will be delivered in partnership with Design British Columbia, a non-profit society whose mandate is to promote understanding and recognition of good design.
"The Canada-B.C. agreement will allow the designers' association to bring in some of the most talented design instructors in North America to provide training that is not readily available in British Columbia," said Mr. Dupuy. "Major international companies invest heavily in such programs each year but it's not often that such specialized training by top ranked international organizations is brought within reach of smaller design companies."
Mr. Barlee said: "This is a pilot program. Experience here will help the design industry develop an on-going, industry-funded training program to improve the working relationship between British Columbia industrial designers and manufacturers. Design is an important component of the overall cultural industry sector and is an increasingly vital element in the marketability of B.C. products."
Estimated total cost of establishing the training initiative is $91,650, of which a maximum of $44,500 will be a non-repayable contribution from the Canada-B.C. agreement.
The agreement is a two-year, $9-million federal-provincial initiative designed to help develop and apply innovative technology, to create new markets for products and services, and to strengthen the industrial infrastructure by sharing costs with project proponents.
The agreement is administered by Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage on the federal side, and on the provincial side by the Ministry of Employment and Investment and the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture.
Funding for this project was provided for in the 1995 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. This initiative is an example of how the federal government is prioritizing its spending so that it can better serve Canadians by making efficient use of their tax dollars.
Information:
Bob Hamilton
President
B.C. Industrial Designers Association
(604) 241-6280
(604) 241-6042 (fax)
Lindsay Allen
Cultural Services Branch
Ministry of Small Business Tourism and Culture
(604) 356-2136
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