To satisfy that demand, a 21-week course designed to train students in viticulture, winemaking and the B.C. wine business is offered by Okanagan College through the Canadian Job Strategy program. Cleave was one of the original group of growers representing the B.C. Horticultural Society and the B.C. Grape Growers' Association who approached Agriculture Canada to establish this course. Trainees will leave the program with a number of valuable skills and certificates such as the pesticide applicator's license, WCB First Aid Level III, stress management, computer training and job search tools, said course coordinator Dominique Sedergreen. So far, eight growers have offered their vineyards as training grounds to help the students get experience, said Sedergreen, adding the students will get an overview of the entire process of winemaking and viticulture. Sedergreen said the course grew out of a shortage of trained vineyard workers.
Most workers arrive in the area as transient labour.
They get the hands-on training they need to do the job but tend to move along at the end of the season. Cleave emphasized the importance of employees who are knowledgeable about farm equipment as more of the process is turned over to machines. The employee needs to know how to operate the machinery, but more importantly needs to understand the needs of the plants. A valuable worker will recognize disease and know how to crop. This program will be the only one offered in the Okanagan.