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The Skills Toolkit

Skills Toolkit November 2016

Welcome to the November Skills Toolkit. Our focus this month is on Electrical Trades. We hope you find the stories useful and inspiring for your students. 

And please check back soon as we are unveiling a new website and new educators resources. Click here to visit our website. 

Youth trades training programs offer more options for BC students

ITA is introducing some new programs and is renaming the existing programs to help students, parents and educators better understand the makeup and flow of the programs and to increase student enrollment in the trades. Click here to read more.

Help your students find their passion

PSE Programming: College of New Caledonia's Career Technical Centre

The College of New Caledonia (CNC)'s Career Technical Centre program offers a variety of programs and courses for high school students who wish to get a jump-start on their post-secondary education. 

The Electrical program is offered at CNC's John Brink Campus in Prince George. Students apply in Grade 11 and start in Grade 12. The course is 20 weeks in length and runs from January to June. 

Upon successful completion of the 20 week CTC electrical program, graduates earn credit from the Industry Training Authority (ITA) for their first year apprenticeship training. Additionally, they earn credit for 350 hours of work experience towards their apprenticeship.

This program prepares students for the electrical apprenticeship program, or for positions such as counter and warehouse personnel in wholesale/distributing outlets. For more information on the program please visit the CNC website here.

InSpire: In School Presentations

Dustin Withey: Electrical CTC Student at College of New Caledonia

Dustin Withey: Electrical CTC Student at CNC

Q: What got you interested in this career?

A: One day, during my 10th grade electronics class, our class was visited by a representative from the College of New Caledonia (CNC). He provided information about the Electrical CTC program offered at CNC.This peaked my interest so I decided to give the program a shot. Afterwards, I knew that this was the career I wished to pursue.

Q: Do you know someone who does this type of work?

A: Yes, luckily a friend of a friend of mine is an electrician. I got in touch with him and he was kind enough to share his knowledge about employers.

Q: What do you like best about it?

A: So many things! But if I have to choose, I'd say that my favorite part about the job is the nice balance between physical and technical work. One day,you might be getting a workout pulling massive cables around, and the next day you might be working with the tiniest of wires and components. It's nice to do both.

Q: What's the biggest challenge?

A: The electrical trade is constantly changing as new technologies are invented.This makes for a pretty intimidating learning curve. However, I imagine that as I become a more experienced electrician, having new things to learn will keep the job interesting.

Q: What job do you hope to have when you finish your training?

A: Although I plan to work for many companies during my apprenticeship in order to learn a variety of skills, my plan once I finish my training is to work in a more industrial setting. Most likely, I will look for a more permanent job at one of the pulp and paper mills in Prince George.

Q: What sort of post-secondary education do you think you will need?

A: The mills in town are unionized, meaning that they will not hire apprentices, rather they give apprenticeships to their existing workforce . However, they do hire journeymen . So once I complete the four levels of electrical training, I will be good to apply!

Q: What type of environment would you eventually like to work in?

A: Like I said, I would like to find a permanent job at a mill, assuming no unexpected opportunities arise. However, that doesn't mean that once there, I will not seek to improve and move up. Perhaps I will eventually become a supervisor? I have also heard of many electricians returning to school to get one, or many other trades, in addition to electrical. It is apparently not uncommon to find an electrician who also has an instrument mechanic's ticket, as the trades are similar in many ways. I have also considered eventually pursuing a degree in electrical engineering.

Skills BC Tomorrow / Today Challenge

BC students showed amazing innovation at Skills Canada's Tomorrow/Today Challenge hosted at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Richmond campus on Friday, November 4. Students showcased future careers and products through the design of prototypes, videos and presentations. Additionally, they applied STEM applications and researched knowledge about 4 economic sectors in BC - Natural Resources, Transportation, Tourism and Construction.

Congratulations to the winners and to all students involved, and thanks to all the volunteers, judges and sponsors for making the first annual Tomorrow/Today Challenge a great success!            

Check out some photos from the day here.

Province of British ColumbiaSkills Canada BCIndustry Trade AuthorityTrades Training BC