Skills Canada competition gives up-and-comers a glance into potential career

From welding to carpentry to cooking, New Brunswick Community College had a full house of Friday as it showcased everything surrounding Skilled Trades.

The provincial Skills Canada competition took place April 26 and 27, giving post-secondary and high school students the chance to test their skills and vie for a spot to represent the province next month in Quebec.

On top of that, more than 3,000 middle and high school students got a front row seat to everything the industry has to offer.

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“It really helps when you can let them see, touch and try things,” said NBCC president and CEO Mary Butler. “It helps to spark imagination and interest and it helps them see a career path where maybe before just a name on a page of a program doesn’t make much sense to them so coming in and feeling comfortable in a post-secondary environment is really important.”

With hands-on demonstrations, industry experts and the best of the best competing for a win, Friday came with a lot of excitement and an important goal in New Brunswick.

People attend the New Brunswick Skills Canada competition on April 26, 2024. (Alana Pickrell/CTV Atlantic)“We want to really build the trades because in our province we need really about 10,000 more people in the next 10 years,” said N.B. Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Greg Turner. “That’s an average, obviously, of 1,000 a year and so it’s important that we keep the flow of talent coming and make sure people recognize that this is more than just a job. It’s a career path.”

Turner was at New Brunswick Community College’s Moncton campus on Friday to announce the re-branding of skilled trades in the province. The hope is to appeal to the younger generation and line up with other Canadian provinces that have similar branding for continuity.

“The schools are one of the many things we’re really targeting. You can see by this event here today, these aren’t just high school students we actually have people here from Grades 7, 8 and 9 so we sort of capture them when they’re fairly young and again that’s the appeal with the swag we have and the new branding and the new logo to appeal to young people because we need them,” said Turner.

Aiden Smith is an NBCC alumnus and is a welder by trade.

“I just was always passionate about building stuff with my hands and as somebody who wasn’t really academically-inclined throughout school, it was a way for me to shine in my own way,” he said.

He hopes events like this one will help grow the industry he is so passionate about.

“The shortage is a huge impact for the welding trade especially, among other trades. The last few years it’s gone down quite a bit but I’m hoping to see with the amount of young people that are starting to be exposed to it that hopefully in the next couple of years we’ll start to see a huge comeback in it,” he said.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Bezanson has wanted to be a welder since before he even started school.

“The most exciting part was probably seeing their welding facilities,” he said. “It’s what I love to do. I’ve already started a little bit welding and I’d love to go further with that.”

Organizers hope events like this will help young people realize the careers that are available to them, no matter their age, gender or background.

“We have a cafeteria full of young women right now who are participating in a lunch in and there’s a panel of red seal trades women that are speaking to them about their experience and … while we’ve seen a growth of about five per cent of women in trades, technology, IT, engineering that’s not growing fast enough and it’s certainly not closing the gap,” said Butler.

For 12-year-olds Ashtyn Austin and Annie Russell, the day did exactly that.

“Today I learned a lot about mechanics and electrician and plumbing and it really inspired me because my dad does it and I didn’t know much about it yet,” said Russell. “I think this is really awesome stuff and I might want to do it when I’m older because it’s going to help a lot.”

“I learned a lot about how to solder and how to use a digger,” said Austin. “I didn’t know a lot about skilled trades before I came here, but now I’m really interested in it and I think I want to do it.”

Organizers say the fun continues on Saturday as high school students step into the competition and try to earn their spot to the national Skills Canada competition next month.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.