Human Resources in Canada's Built Heritage Sector: Mapping the ...

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MAPPING THE WORK FORCE AND SETTING STRATEGIC PRIORITIESOrganizational Gap:Within the built heritage sector there are both discipline-based and multi-disciplinary organizations. Mostprofessionals in the sector have a “home discipline” and maintain membership in the professional associationrelated to that discipline. It is also common for professionals in the sector to belong to multi-disciplinary bodies,such as the Association for Preservation Technology. The Canadian Association of Professional HeritageConsultants has a significant multi-disciplinary membership, drawn largely, though not exclusively fromprofessionals offering specialized services to the sector. A significant gap in the sector’s organizational fabricis an organizational “home” for professionals who are employed in the public sector and by heritage institutionsin the non-profit sector. These professionals, whom we estimate to number approximately 2,500 to 3,000 persons,have a number of common interests that currently do not find sufficient organizational expression. Amongthese common interests are the need for professional training, the need to keep abreast of developments in theprogram and policy field and the need to have an organized interaction with professionals in other fields, suchas urban planning, who can have a significant impact on the built heritage sector.Professional Recognition:“Recognition of skills is a bigger problem than skill shortage.”Workshop Participant, HalifaxA recurring theme among persons interviewed, or who participated in workshops, was the need for greaterrecognition of the sector and for the contribution made by persons who work in the sector. At the root of thisconcern are two related perceptions. The first is that the role and skills of professionals in the builtheritage sector are not understood by others (planners, developers, project managers, contractors) whomake decisions that can impinge profoundly on the sector. The second, and related perception, is thatmany tasks in the built heritage sector, indeed sometimes entire projects, are undertaken by persons whohave either no knowledge or insufficient knowledge of conservation standards or techniques. Componentsof a building or ornamentation may be unnecessarily replaced or damaged. The result is that much of theheritage character of a structure is unnecessarily lost. Professional recognition is a circular problem. As longas key actors in the built heritage sector, such as planners, developers, project managers and contractors,lack an understanding of conservation standards they will not seek out professionals who are expert in theapplication of those standards. The fact that restoration and conservation work is then done by personswho are poorly equipped for these tasks only compounds the problem of professional recognition. Indeed,it reinforces the view among project managers, developers, etc. that no special skills are required and thatrestoration skills are no different than new construction skills. Something must be done to break into thiscircular problem and promote a more constructive dynamic in the sector.©CULTURAL HUMAN RESOURCES COUNCIL21
HUMAN RESOURCES IN CANADA’S BUILT HERITAGE SECTORSuccession Planning/Portals of Entry:“There is no commitment to recruit younger people into built heritage professions. Many people in thesector are ready to retire. There is nobody to replace them. ”Curator, Victoria“In government, there is no succession plan. We will have difficulty replacing the current expertise.Cost prevents the initiation of mentoring programs in government.Workshop Participant, VictoriaMany persons who were interviewed, or who participated in workshops, stressed the importance of practicalexperience. They also expressed concerns about replacing experienced professionals who are approachingretirement. The central importance of practical experience creates a problem for the sector. Sectors, such asbuilt heritage, which rely heavily on experience are best able to provide that experience to new entrants whenthe sector is expanding rapidly or has a high rate of turn-over. Neither of these conditions applies to the builtheritage sector. In the absence of rapid growth or a high rate of turn-over, there are few entry-level jobs.The sector therefore may have a serious and difficult succession challenge. The built heritage sector cannot relyon the post-secondary system to train graduates who are qualified to step immediately into the shoesof retiring professionals. Nor can the sector rely on employers in the sector to open up a sufficient numberof entry-level positions to meet future skill needs in the sector. Left to its own devices, the labour market willnot alleviate this problem. Without deliberate measures, the sector may go through a period when there is adiminution of the skill pool. How serious is the risk ? In the absence of a more careful demographic analysis,we cannot offer a reliable estimate. However, the indication from interviews and workshops is that the riskshould be taken seriously.Occupational Standards and Certification for Professionals:As indicated in Figure No. 3, a reasonable estimate of the number of persons who work in specialized builtheritage occupations would be somewhere in the range of 3,800 – 5,300 persons. This is a comparativelysmall labour market. It is likely that most professionals in a region know one another directly or by reputation.One individual interviewed for this study described the importance of a person’s standing among his or herpeers as equivalent to “informal certification.” We think this is an appropriate description. In general, weencountered no evidence that this “informal certification” was failing to meet the sector’s needs in most fields.However, as will be noted below, there are concerns that the need for specialized “heritage architects,”“heritage engineers” and “heritage project managers” is not being met.“The only way to gauge skill is by reputation.”Architect, Ontario22©CULTURAL HUMAN RESOURCES COUNCIL
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