Work Opportunities
Wild Craft Foods Program by Mission Community Skills Centre
10 Week PAID Self-Employment Training
This ten-week self-employment experience for indigenous youth aged 15 to 29 endeavours to empower a new generation of entrepreneurs. More than a program, Wild Craft Foods is a community-minded incubator that walks alongside young people from concept through launch and focuses on traditional wildcrafting, art, food, and agriculture business projects and skill development.
- Are you a Metis, First Nations, Non-Status, registered on or off reserve, Inuit or other Indigenous youth between the ages of 15 and 29? Are you looking to be self-employed in the $100 Billion a year Agri-Food & Beverage industries?
- Do you live in the Fraser Valley region? (E.g. Mission, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Langley, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, etc.)
- Did you know that 1 in 8 jobs in Canada are in the Agri-Food & Beverage industries?
The Wild Craft Foods program is designed for youth to develop the skills, training and work connections for self-employment opportunities like:
- Harvesting wild food crops to sell to restaurants, retail shops, and food manufacturers
- Crafting loose teas using common tea leaves and wild ingredients
- Creating Indigenous drum ornaments for sale through online shops like Etsy
- Traditional smoked salmon products for high-end markets
- Crafting jams, spreads, marinades, and sauces using wild and commercial crops
- Herbal medicine and wellness products using wild crops
- Harvesting fallen wood, prepping and selling it as firewood
- Creating artistic products for sale in tourist shops or online
- Crafting custom soap products using wild crops and wild animal fat
- Pre-packaged dried soups sold in retail shops or online
- Catching fish and selling them to retailers and restaurants… and so much more!
If you need a career, get started on your path to success, with The Wild Craft Program.
Who is Eligible for this training?
- Living in British Columbia
- Unemployed of precariously employed
- Self-identify as First Nations, Inuit, or Métis
- Between the ages of 15 and 29
- …and ready to be an entrepreneur!
This program includes 10 weeks of PAID in-class training and certificates that include: Entrepreneurship 101 | Business Planning | Business Viability | Finance & Planning | Entrepreneurial Style & Success | Marketing Regulations & Legal Requirements | Orientation to Human Resources | Indigenous Cultural Sessions | Assessments | Occupational First Aid | Holistic First Aid | WHIMS | Good Agricultural & Collection Practices… and more.
Participants will also receive Wildcrafting, foraging, and crafting mentorship from indigenous elders in the Fraser Valley including field trips into the wild and the completion of community projects.
Our next session starts: May 3, 2021 (Program runs Monday – Friday from 9:00 am-3:30 pm).
Seats are limited so contact us today!
