Concurrent Technical Session 4C-A: Removing Barriers to Equity
Stephanie Shrum, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum 

Through the Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity (WORBE) project, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA), working in partnership with Bison Transport, and the national Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (JEDI), will support employers to create institutional change through the creation of inclusive workplaces.  This project will provide employers with the tools necessary to enhance their recruitment efforts and to implement practices and policies which will improve retention.  

In this session, we'll discuss the challenges that employers in the transportation industry are facing with recruitment and retention and will provide strategies to not only increase, but to maintain a diverse workforce.  These strategies have been used and recommended by peers in the industry who've achieved great success with meeting and maintaining their hiring and retention targets.  We'll walk through the challenges those companies faced, how they planned and prepared for changing their processes, and what the implementation stage included so that attendees of this session will walk away with a clear understanding of the strategies, steps, and resources they can take back to their own organization. 

Along with the presentation, each attendee will be provided with access to a recruitment and retention guide containing recommendations gathered from research as well as interviews and focus groups with employers, apprentices, and apprenticeship stakeholders throughout Canada.  

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Concurrent Technical Session 4C-B: Marine Inspections and Surveying in Canada
Kristine Penney & Melanie Deyoung, InnovMarine Inc. 

Marine inspections and surveying in Canada is lagging behind in technological innovation and digitalization. In the majority of cases during initial investigations, surveyors and inspectors are still performing their activities with a pen and paper, and a lack of standardization across the industry. With a motto of "Helping the Marine Industry Build Better Ships, faster", InnovMarine works to transform the marine industry through a people-first approach to boost productivity and simplify technology. Through simplified technology, we are able to help shipowners and shipbuilders navigate digital transformation by unlocking maintenance data, which is a key to better sustainability. This study will provide a description of the challenges and gaps faced by those involved in marine surveying and inspections related to new ship builds, maintenance, repair, and refits. Furthermore, it will outline InnovMarine's expertise and approach to bridge those challenges and gaps through the development of a new product called IM-Survey, the benefits and results found during testing phases with clients in the industry, and how this new product could help stakeholders to improve productivity by up to 50%, resulting in saving time and money, and freeing up much needed resources.