The FORGE https://entertheforge.ca Tradespeople supporting tradespeople. Mon, 09 Feb 2026 22:03:33 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://entertheforge.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/the-forge-icon-150x150.png The FORGE https://entertheforge.ca 32 32 MAJOR MILESTONE UPDATE: CONSTRUCTION IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY WITH DURWEST CONSTRUCTION https://entertheforge.ca/a-major-milestone-for-the-forge-construction-is-officially-underway-with-durwest-construction/ Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:45:54 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=2199 On Friday, February 6, we gathered at The FORGE site to mark a long-awaited milestone: the official start of construction!

Surrounded by project partners, supporters, and community champions, the energy on site was unmistakable. What was once a vision – transforming this building into a place of recovery, connection, and hope – is now becoming reality.

We are proud to share that Durwest Construction is leading the renovation, bringing their expertise, care, and commitment to a project that means so much to our community. Their leadership, alongside the contributions of many skilled partners, is helping turn this location into a safe, welcoming environment that will support mental health, recovery, and wellness for tradespeople.

This milestone is about more than construction. It’s about collaboration. It’s about showing what’s possible when industry, community, and purpose come together. And it’s about taking a tangible step toward opening doors for people seeking support – without judgment and without barriers.

We are incredibly grateful to our growing crew of supporters who are helping bring this project to life. Thank you to these amazing organizations who have stepped for to contribute their time, expertise, and resources:

  • General Contractor:Durwest Construction Management
  • Demolition:NAN Site Servicing Ltd.
  • Civil:Allterra Construction Ltd.
  • Framing:Ron Anderson & Sons
  • Roofing:Parker Johnston Industries
  • Demo Waste Hauling & Disposal:DL Bins

We’ll be sharing updates as construction continues, because every beam, wall, and shared effort brings us closer to opening a space built by community, for community.

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FREE PET CARE FOR THOSE IN ADDICTIONS TREATMENT PROVIDED BY NEW VANCOUVER ISLAND ORGANIZATION https://entertheforge.ca/free-pet-care-for-those-in-addictions-treatment-provided-by-new-vancouver-island-organization/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:02:02 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=2172 Seeing people wrestle with the prospect of giving up their pets in order to get the help they need has inspired two front-line workers on Vancouver Island to start an organization that provides free pet care to people who enter addictions treatment.

Kayleigh Busch and Priya Sharma founded the Recovery Tails Society to bridge a gap they noticed was making the decision to enter treatment more difficult.

“It’s so heartbreaking every time we see somebody have to decline and turn away a treatment bed because they just can’t find the support that they need for their animals,” said Busch.

“They are family members,” said Sharma.

The society currently has 15 confirmed foster homes across Vancouver Island, and works to match animals with an appropriate placement when their owner goes into treatment.

For now the only ask from the society is that food for the pet be provided to the foster family for the length of it’s stay.

“Eventually when we do have a fund built we want to be able to provide all the food and all of the necessary things that their animal will need,” said Sharma.

Mike Manhas, the founder of the Rewired Recover Foundation as well as SoberFest, applauded the “absolutely amazing” initiative.

”What a beautiful idea to come out and provide a missing piece of recovery,” he said.

Manhas’ work has seen him send more than 100 people to treatment. He knows addiction personally and says often those seeking treatment have already lost many of the close relationships in their lives, leaving their pets as the only stable relationship they have left.

When people learns they can’t take their pet with them to treatment, they’re faced with another difficult decision.

“Where does the animal go?” Manhas asked. “It’s either a shelter or you struggle to find a place to take them and hope you get the dog back afterwards. Nobody will do that.”

He says this service is what is needed for pet owners seeking help with their recovery.

Recovery Tails soft launched in June fostering three animals while their owners got well. The society’s founders said the response from those pet owners was overwhelming.

“They are just so beyond grateful for the support and the time that we take in order to take care of their animals when they are away,” said Busch.

“We’re seeing the owners come back and being like, ‘You have no idea what this did for my recovery and how much stress this completely took off of me,” said Sharma.

The pair is now looking to grow the society’s reach, searching for more foster families as well as donations in order to remove a major barrier in the recovery journey of pet owners.

Shared by: CTV News

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FORMER LANGFORD BIKER CLUBHOUSE REBORN AS SUPPORT CENTRE FOR WORKERS https://entertheforge.ca/former-langford-biker-clubhouse-reborn-as-support-centre-for-workers/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:45:23 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1231

A former biker clubhouse in Langford once tied to organized crime is about to be reborn as a place of healing and hope for construction workers battling mental health and addiction issues.

The single-storey building at 2775 Spencer Rd. – once the headquarters of the Savages Motorcycle Club, a “support club” for the Hells Angels – was purchased earlier this year by the Construction Foundation of BC (CFBC).

Now, it’s set to become The Forge: a first-of-its-kind hub offering peer support, recovery coaching, counselling, and community-building programs tailored to B.C.’s trades workforce.

“There’s something really beautiful about taking something from one stage and transforming it into something brand new,” said Jenny Nadeau, CFBC’s director of community programs. “This space will give back in ways that maybe it couldn’t before. It’s about hope.”

The facility is expected to open in July 2026 and will serve as both a local gathering place and a provincewide resource through an app currently in development.

The goal: build a system of support by and for tradespeople, a demographic that remains over-represented in overdose and suicide statistics.

The building – roughly 1,450 square feet on a 7,400-square-foot lot – went up for sale last year for nearly $1.5 million.

Just months earlier, it was one of several properties raided during a multi-jurisdictional police operation that netted fentanyl and other drugs. That history isn’t being ignored – it’s being embraced.

“It’s a living metaphor,” said Mike Manhas, director of philanthropy with CFBC and founder of the ReWired Recovery Foundation. “We’re showing what transformation looks like – whether it’s a building or a person. Jenny and I are both in long-term recovery. This space says, ‘Change is possible’.”

Inside, The Forge will offer more than just trained counsellors and recovery coaches. It will host a peer-support network, offer social clubs to help those in recovery rebuild life skills, and serve as a space where local services can meet people where they’re at – without shame or stigma.

Too often, said Manhas, people looking for help are told to go find services on their own, which can feel impossible when they’re barely holding it together.

“You’re told the resources are out there – but how do you find them when you’re struggling just to get through the day?”

The initiative is deeply rooted in the construction industry.

Of B.C.’s 243,000 construction workers, too many are suffering in silence. Both Nadeau and Manhas believe the people who build the province deserve real investment in their own wellness.

“The people who build our lives deserve to have good lives too,” said Nadeau. “And they need spaces that feel like they’re for them. Because often the resources that do exist don’t feel accessible – either culturally or physically.”

The Forge is being funded through private donations from within the industry.

Unions like the Western Joint Electrical Training Society have already pledged support. Volunteers from the trades will handle much of the renovation, but an additional $500,000 to $700,000 is still needed for materials and expansion.

The Forge’s reach will go beyond Langford.

Peer-support services, recovery coaching, and counselling will be available provincewide through the app. A potential research partnership with UBC’s men’s mental-health division could help scale the model across B.C.

The public launch is set for Thursday, July 31, with remarks beginning at 11 a.m. at the former clubhouse.

“You might walk in with your head down,” said Manhas, “but we want you to walk out with your head held high – knowing that people have your back, and that change is possible.”

Shared from: Goldstream Gazette

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LANGFORD SHOWS SUPPORT FOR ‘LIFE-SAVING’ SUPPORT CENTRE FOR TRADESPEOPLE https://entertheforge.ca/langford-shows-support-for-life-saving-support-centre-for-tradespeople/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:42:34 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1227

The former headquarters of the Savages Motorcycle Club at 2775 Spencer Rd. sits behind a rendering of its future

For Langford Coun. Kimberley Guiry, a request for the city to support a new trades-focused mental health centre struck a deeply personal chord.

Work is underway to transform the former headquarters of the Savages Motorcycle Club at 2775 Spencer Rd. into the Forge, a new hub offering peer support, recovery coaching, counselling and community-building programs designed for B.C.’s trades workforce living with mental health and addiction challenges.

The building was purchased by the Construction Foundation of BC, and to help launch the project, the West Shore Developers Association has donated $5,000, asking the city to match their contribution.

The appeal stirred memories for Guiry – who is a qualified cabinet maker – of a colleague who died two years ago after struggling with mental health challenges.

“To say that this is a loss to the world as a whole is an understatement, because this person was incredibly special,” she said at the Aug. 18 meeting, recalling how he supported her during her apprenticeship when she experienced sexual harassment.

“Not only did he say ‘I believe you,’ he said, ‘You know I’m kinda done working here too,’” she remembered. “So he found another job and he used his resources and brought me along with him – it fundamentally changed my introduction into the trades.

“He was delightful, funny, and had his own issues and challenges.”

Guiry said she doesn’t know if a facility like the Forge could have helped her colleague, but believes it will be “incredibly impactful” for others.

“Mental health has stigma, addiction has stigma, being a tradesperson has stigma – so there’s a lot of assumptions made,” she said. “It’s lonely when you’re dealing with these things, and the loneliness just compounds the issues.”

She also stressed the importance of having resources close to home, removing the need for people to have to travel to Victoria to access “impactful life-saving interactions.”

“I love the idea of being a hub of recovery in Langford and the West Shore,” she said. “It speaks to the inclusiveness of our community … and the understanding that we’re complex individuals with complex needs, and we don’t need to judge each other for having a life experience that’s different from each other.”

At the meeting, councillors unanimously agreed to match West Shore Developers Association’s $5,000 donation.

“Whether we like it or not, we probably all know somebody who uses drugs, we probably love somebody who uses drugs,” said Coun. Colby Harder in support of the donation.

“And it’s time for all of us to step up and start changing the narrative around this, because it’s not just a local issue, it’s a national issue.”

Noting that tradespeople are over-represented in overdose and suicide statistics, Harder said she was grateful for the chance to support “the folks I see in the Tim Hortons lineup, sitting next to me on the bus, the people who are literally building our community.”

The two organizations plan to encourage the wider West Shore business community to step up and show their support for the facility.

“It’s a great opportunity to build momentum behind a cause that affects so many of our residents, workers and families,” said Ron Coutre, president of West Shore Developers Association, in a letter to council.

Shared by: Goldstream Gazette

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FORMER BIKER CLUBHOUSE TO BECOME MENTAL-HEALTH HUB FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS https://entertheforge.ca/former-biker-clubhouse-to-become-mental-health-hub-for-construction-workers/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:41:24 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1224

Called The Forge, the facility on Spencer Road in Langford will provide mental-health and addictions programs for those in the trades

A former biker clubhouse in Langford is being turned into a hub to provide support and referrals to construction-industry workers with mental-health and addictions issues.

The Construction Foundation of B.C. is behind the project, which will be called The Forge. The official launch is set for Thursday at the former clubhouse at 2775 Spencer Rd., near Spencer Middle School.

“Whether you swing a hammer or manage a site, lead a crew or care about one, there’s a place for you in this conversation,” the foundation said in a statement.

The single-storey, 1,456-square-foot building went on the market for close to $1.5 million last year.

The clubhouse was one of nine properties and three vehicles searched on Jan. 31, 2024, in a multi-jurisdiction operation, leading to the seizure of numerous drugs, including about 450 grams of fentanyl.

The building, which sits on a 7,400-square-foot lot, served as headquarters for the Savages Motorcycle Club, a group that the B.C. Combined Forces Enforcement Unit — which targets gangs — has identified as a support club for the Hells Angels.

At the time it hit the market, West Shore RCMP said they believed their investigation “had something to do with” the fact the clubhouse was listed for sale, noting it was possible an application would be made to the province’s Civil Forfeiture Office to take over the property.

Foundation executive director Abigail Fulton said Friday her group decided to buy the building because it was seeking a location that could serve as a hub and a place for tradespeople who needed help.

“A place that was once notorious can now be glorious,” Fulton said. “It’s an opportunity to support tradespeople.”

The hope is to have the refurbished facility open in 10 to 12 months, she said.

There are still Savages signs and other remnants inside connected to its former use, along with damage to walls and other areas. A fundraising drive has begun to collect $500,000 for the renovation.

With completion still some time away, the foundation is looking to start providing counselling and other services to workers, and to give them advice on where to go for any treatment they might need, Fulton said.

She said there is an interim location nearby on Meaford Avenue, provided by Viking Properties, where services can be offered for the time being.

Once open, she said the Spencer Road facility will focus on giving workers fellowship, support and guidance to programs, rather than being a full-fledged treatment centre.

The foundation’s website says the construction industry has the highest suicide rate of all industries in Canada, with 53.2 suicides per 100,000 workers — five times higher than all other construction-related fatalities combined.

It says 83% of workers report experiencing mental-health struggles, while substance-abuse rates in the trades are nearly double the national average.

The Canadian Safety Training Centre cites chronic pain from injuries and job instability as possible factors in the industry’s high suicide rate, which is 65 per cent higher than in other industries, the training centre said.

It said physical pain and mental stress can contribute to workers’ use of alcohol and drugs.

Fulton said workers with “lived experience” of job-related health issues have been serving as advisers in the planning process.

“All of our peer supporters who’ve been getting trained over the last number of months have lived experience and know how to support other tradespeople.”

The B.C. Construction Association pegs the province’s construction-industry workforce at 243,000.

Shared by: Times Colonist

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CONSTRUCTION TRADES LAUNCH PEER-SUPPORT PROGRAM TO HELP WORKERS FACING MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES https://entertheforge.ca/construction-trades-launch-peer-support-program-to-help-workers-facing-mental-health-challenges/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:40:12 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1221

Current and former workers are training to help tradespeople, who suffer high rate of mental health concerns

When Shawn Underhill worked as an ironworker, it was his job to check the fit-for-duty box for the crew, a standard part of the daily safety paperwork.

“It was a lie,” said Underhill, explaining that he and other members of his crew weren’t always sober. For decades, Underhill struggled with mental health and addiction, the result of cascading personal tragedies, worksite injuries and painkiller prescriptions.

“If I only had someone early on [to] just sit and talk with me … it would have changed things for me,” said Underhill, who’s now settled in Mission, B.C. That’s exactly what he wants to do now for other men and women struggling in the same way he did.

Underhill is one of 12 current and former tradespeople across the province, training to be a peer-support worker for a mental-health initiative, led by the Construction Foundation of B.C. (CFBC), called The Forge. It’s aimed at the skilled trades, an industry which sees higher-than-average rates of health concerns.

On July 31, the CFBC breaks ground on the future headquarters for The Forge in Langford, B.C., just west of Victoria.

More than 80 per cent of construction workers report experiencing mental health struggles. Substance abuse rates in the trades are nearly double the national average, according to the CFBC.

“If people show up for work who are not OK, it can have catastrophic effects on the job site,” said Katherine Davies, principal of operations at Aryze Developments. “You can see mistakes that then lead to safety events, that then lead to massive financial implications for the company.”

Long shifts, demanding work

So why do people in the trades, and particularly tradesmen, struggle more with mental health and addictions?

John Oliffe, the Canada Research Chair in men’s health promotion at UBC, said long shifts and physically demanding work may contribute to recreational drug use and self-medicating with substances. In an industry where reaching out for help may be seen as a weakness, he said, peer support can be an effective way to normalize conversations about mental health.

Trevor Botkin says he hopes to launch The Forge by December, by which time peer-support workers will have each completed a 40-hour training module. (Don Craig)

Trevor Botkin, who is heading up The Forge with CFBC, remembers the culture of toughing it out alone. The former journey carpenter and superintendent said he thought mental-health counselling was “for the birds.” Then, his career came into crisis in 2019, when his addiction got out of hand and he narrowly escaped a suicide attempt.

Standard mental-health supports are just not resonating with the culture of the construction industry, said Botkin.

“We’ve got all these services… standing outside the construction fence waving in saying, ‘Hey, we have help here!'” said Botkin. Peer support, on the other hand, gets past that fence to “put guys with lived experience down there in the dirt …  pulling on the rebar and who are actually qualified to have those conversations in a meaningful way.”

Botkin hopes to launch The Forge by December, by which time peer-support workers will have completed their 40-hour training module, focused on how to listen actively without judging or giving advice.

“It’s about asking good questions,” he said. “We want to keep guys in the driver’s seat as much as possible. Those are the decisions that stick.”

Shared by: CBC News

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B.C. BIKER CLUBHOUSE TO BECOME CENTRE FOR ADDICTION, MENTAL HEALTH RECOVERY https://entertheforge.ca/b-c-biker-clubhouse-to-become-centre-for-addiction-mental-health-recovery/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:38:51 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1218

A building in Langford, B.C., once occupied by biker gangs is being transformed into a wellness centre for people recovering from addiction and mental illness.

The building was previously used by the Savages Motorcycle Club, and before that, the Devil’s Army — both of which police say are tied to the Hells Angels.

The clubhouse went on the market last year, after it was raided by police during a drug trafficking and organized crime investigation.

About two weeks ago, the Construction Federation of BC (CFBC) bought the property for $1.1 million.

“(We’re) basically taking the building from notorious to glorious,” said CFBC executive director Abigail Fulton.

CFBC is a charity dedicated to supporting people in the construction industry. It plans on turning the space into a wellness hub for tradespeople, called The Forge.

“The building becomes a refuge, a place of hope and wellness for the community,” Fulton said.

CFBC needs to fundraise $500,000 to refurbish the building and expand its footprint, she said. It’s anticipated renovations will be completed by next summer.

“It’s been a couple of decades where the neighbors have been pretty disappointed about the things that were happening at this facility, and now we get to change that script,” said CFBC philanthropy director Mike Manhas.

Once the centre opens, the plan is to offer peer support, clinical counsellors, recovery coaching, and a social club. The Forge’s services will not include treatment beds or harm reduction services.

“People get sent to treatment, get released, go back into the community and large numbers relapse,” Manhas said.

“When you’ve gone through the harm reduction piece — (and) there are lots of people providing those services — our job is to provide that recovery piece that no one’s providing.”

Manhas will help run the centre’s programs, alongside carpenter and CFBC industry relations manager Trevor Bodkin. Both men are in recovery.

“The idea being that we take workers like myself with lived experience not only on the tools … but we train them in actually how to use their lived experience of mental health and substance use challenges and recovery to support other workers,” Bodkin said.

The Forge team is hosting a ground breaking ceremony next Thursday.

Shared by: CTV News

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INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY OFFERS SOLACE TO THOSE GRIEVING https://entertheforge.ca/international-overdose-awareness-day-offers-solace-to-those-grieving/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:37:32 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1215

For Trevor Botkin, Sunday’s International Overdose Awareness Day is a chance to reflect on his journey with addiction.

The manager of industry relations for the Construction Foundation of British Columbia said his experience with addiction was worsened by the stigma associated with asking for help, especially in a male-dominated industry.

Now in recovery, Botkin ­advocates for widespread job-site access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, along with a shift in culture at trades workplaces.

“Overdose Awareness Day is a chance to reflect and look back on the loss, look forward at solutions and how we can empower people to be a part of the solution,” Botkin said. “On my shoulders, I carry the grief of a lot of losses over the last 10 years.”

Thousands will gather worldwide Sunday to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day, as B.C. marks nine years since illicit-drug-related deaths and injuries prompted the declaration of a public health emergency.

So far this year, the Vancouver Island Health Authority has recorded 163 deaths from toxic-drug poisoning; 455 deaths were recorded for all of 2024.

Jan Mahoney, who lost her 21-year-old son Michael to an overdose in 2018, said the stigma of talking about his death was challenging to overcome. “It’s not something you feel you can really talk about,” she said.

Mahoney belongs to Moms Stop the Harm, a group dedicated to supporting those who have lost loved ones to overdose and advocating for an end to the toxic drug crisis.

The group is hosting a vigil at Broad View United Church in Saanich Sunday at 7 p.m., where people can bring photos and light candles in memory of loved ones they have lost. Another event, hosted by Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, is scheduled for Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the legislature lawn.

Of the overdose deaths in B.C. since 2022, 21 per cent were people who worked in trades, transport and equipment operations, according to the B.C. Coroners Service.

Botkin co-hosts a podcast called Off the Clock Toolbox Talk, where he interviews other trades workers about their ­experiences with substance use and how they found hope. A lot of trades workers turn to substance use to cope with the emotional and physical pain that can come with the job. “When we start to get in the deep end, we tend to try and hide that from even our co-workers.” Botkin said.

Reaching out for help was the only way for him to make it through recovery, and he stayed sick for longer than he should have because he thought he could fix his issues alone.

The construction foundation is developing a program called The Forge, where tradespeople trained to offer support mentor their peers to reduce the stigma of substance abuse.

Travis Sharpe, a peer-to-peer mentor and construction worker who used to struggle with substance abuse, said the program works to help people, often men, who find it challenging to ask for help.

“People were there when I needed the help,” he said, adding that he could not have recovered alone. Making naloxone accessible on job sites will help de-stigmatize illicit-drug use, he said.

Rev. Shelagh MacKinnon, pastoral care and transition minister at Broad View United Church, said the non-religious vigil will focus on compassion and connection, and that humanizing the toxic drug crisis is crucial.

“It’s a time of memory,” she said, adding that humanizing the toxic drug crisis is crucial.

MacKinnon said she’s looking forward to the moment during the vigil when people will be encouraged to say the names of those who have died. “If just one person has the chance to say a name out loud and they haven’t yet, it will be worth it.”

Shared from: Times Colonist 

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CITY OF LANGFORD AND WEST SHORE DEVELOPERS STEP UP FOR TRADES MENTAL HEALTH; URGE REGION TO JOIN SUPPORT FOR THE FORGE https://entertheforge.ca/city-of-langford-and-west-shore-developers-step-up-for-trades-mental-health-urge-region-to-join-support-for-the-forge/ Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:20:17 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=1208

(Langford, B.C.): Tradespeople across Greater Victoria are facing a mental health crisis. To help address it, the City of Langford and the West Shore Developers Association (WSDA) have each committed $5,000 to The Forge, a new trades-focused mental health and recovery hub being built in Langford by the Construction Foundation of BC. Together, they are inviting other municipalities, business owners, builders and developers across Greater Victoria to join the effort.

The WSDA, which represents developers and builders in the West Shore area, invited the City of Langford to match their donation. Council unanimously approved the request on August 18th and is taking it one step further to challenge others to do the same.

The Forge, located at 2775 Spencer Road, is being transformed into a safe, peer-driven space where tradespeople can access free mental health and substance use supports. The Forge will serve trades workers from across the region, addressing the urgent need for support in an industry that has been hit hard by mental health and addiction challenges.

“The City of Langford stands united with the tradespeople who have built our communities,” said Scott Goodmanson, Mayor of Langford. “Our support is more than a financial donation; it is a statement of solidarity for the tradespeople who have built the communities we call home. It is now our turn to stand with those who stood with us, and we’re calling on our neighbours across Greater Victoria to do the same.”

Across Canada, the suicide rate in construction is more than three times the national average. In B.C., studies show that 30 to 50% of men who died of opioid related causes were trades workers. The Forge will provide free counselling, recovery coaching, peer mentorship, aftercare, and employment supports designed for the realities of life in the trades.

“Tradespeople are at the heart of our communities, yet too many are struggling in silence,” said Ron Coutre, President of the WSDA. “These aren’t just statistics, they’re our neighbours, employees, family, and friends. The Forge will provide practical, stigma-free support close to home. We’re proud to stand behind it, and we urge other builders, developers and municipalities to step up so The Forge can open as soon as possible.”

“The Forge is about creating a hub for healing, dignity and connection,” said Mike Manhas, Director of Philanthropy for The Forge. “With support from the WSDA and the City of Langford, we’ve taken an important first step. Our goal is to raise $500,000 so we can complete the recovery of the building. Every contribution counts and every day we wait means more tradespeople go without the help they need.”

The City of Langford and the WSDA are urging municipalities, businesses, and community leaders across Greater Victoria to support The Forgethrough donations and by spreading the word, so that tradespeople can access the help they so urgently need.

Shared from: City of Langford Latest News Updates

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RECLAIMING SPACE, REBUILDING LIVES: THE FORGE BRINGS VITAL SUPPORT FOR TRADESPEOPLE https://entertheforge.ca/reclaiming-space-rebuilding-lives-the-forge-brings-vital-support-for-tradespeople/ Thu, 31 Jul 2025 21:49:01 +0000 https://entertheforge.ca/?p=978

July 31, 2025, Langford, BC: A former biker clubhouse in Langford is being brought back to life, and with it, new hope for tradespeople facing mental health and wellness challenges.

The FORGE, a new community-led project built by and for tradespeople, has officially broken ground in the Westshore. The FORGE will become a welcoming hub for a peer-led support system designed specifically for the skilled trades community.

What will set The FORGE apart will be its trades-specific, lived-experience peer-to-peer model. Built to meet the unique needs of construction and trades workers, the project will bring together recovery coaches, clinicians, and peer supporters, many of whom have lived the very challenges they will support others through.

 “The rejuvenation of our future wellness hub represents more than bricks and mortar; it’s a symbol of recovery, connection, and transformation for the trades community,” said Abigail Fulton, Executive Director of the Construction Foundation of BC.

To bring The FORGE to life, the CFBC is launching a capital campaign to raise $500,000 to support the full renovation and recovery of the building. Industry partners, labour organisations, and community supporters are invited to contribute to this landmark effort to build a permanent home for wellness support in the trades. Every donation, partnership, and show of support helps forge a stronger, more resilient trades industry for generations to come.

For more information about The FORGE, to donate to the Capital Campaign, visit: www.entertheforge.ca.

 

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