The West Coast Boatyard Association is made up of companies operating facilities that repair, refit and maintain pleasure craft, yachts and/or light commercial vessels - the Recreational Marine Industry.
Its objectives are to:
- Provide consistent levels of workmanship excellence and customer value across all member boatyards
- Engage in pre-emptive communication with regulatory bodies at local, provincial and federal levels to establish mutually acceptable levels of performance and compliance
- Promote auditable management practices for all activities that have environmental impact
- Promote consistent and measurable excellence for workplace training
- Provide visible competitive differentiation through branding and pro-active membership
- Co-operatively market the industry in the local and international marketplace
Committees of the association implement these objectives in a number of areas, such as government regulation affecting the industry, workplace training and marketing.
Headquartered in Sidney, B.C., the membership meets regularly between September and May. In addition to conducting the normal business of the association, these meetings serve as ‘networking’ opportunities and open forums for sharing successes/failures and concerns common to boatyard operators.
The WCBA was originally founded in 1995 by a group of Sidney area boatyard owners as the Vancouver Island Marine Repair Association (VIMRA) with the exclusive mandate to introduce relevant training to the industry. This group developed the Marine Repair Technician trade, since recognized as a certifiable trade designation by the Province of B.C. The group later incorporated Quadrant to deliver the technical training for this trade under the B.C. Industry Training Authority.
The WCBA has played an integral role in the development of the Marine Foundations Program and more recently the new Marine Mechanical Technician apprenticeship.