New $5k bursary announced for students looking to pursue skilled trades in N.S.
Due to a labour shortage, the construction industry in Nova Scotia is continuing to try and find ways and new avenues to attract more people into the skilled trades.
Jill Balser, the minister of labour, skills and immigration announced a new bursary program today for students interested in studying construction and pursuing a trade at Nova Scotia Community Colleges across the province.
“It’s about removing barriers," said Balser. "The skilled trades are for everyone, and we know we need more skilled trades professionals to build our houses, hospitals and schools."
Heather Cruickshanks has been in the sheet metal fabrication business for nearly 40 years and says the biggest challenge facing the construction industry today is the massive worker shortage.
"Construction has to be one of the most rewarding fields you could be in, there's never two days the same, but unfortunately we have huge hurdles and stresses today," said Cruickshanks, co-owner with L.E. Cruickshanks Sheet Metal Ltd. in Halifax.
"We can't find people to do the work," said Cruickshank, who applauds the government's move to add a bursary program to recruit potential NSCC students into the skilled trades.
"I think we have to do a better job at recruiting and letting people know what kind of trade opportunities are out there," said Cruickshanks.
The new NSCC bursary will support up to 320 NSCC students looking for a future career in the trades, the deadline to apply is July 18th and those eligible can receive $5,000 to help pay for tuition and living costs.
Balser announced the bursary program at the Trades and Exhibition Hall, a trades showroom operated by the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council, which happened to be celebrating its 10th anniversary of the educational trade venue.
"We thought we'd do one visit a month, we are now averaging three visits per week and over 12 thousand visitors have either been informed, inspired or educated on what opportunities are available in the skilled trades," said Trent Soholt, executive director with the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council.
The NSCC built the trades showroom in 2014 and Soholt says they are focussed on showing the generation the opportunities in the skilled trades.
The NSCC bursary will only help open more doors says Soholt.
"It really helps remove those barriers so individuals can be successful in pursuing those occupations and become those trades professionals that we want them to be," said Soholt.
Cruickshanks says any skilled trade is a good career and it needs to be recognized as such and says there needs to be more appreciation for that kind of work.
"There's nothing more rewarding than driving by and saying, 'I worked on that building, I did that job, or we worked on this,'" said Cruickshanks.
Balser says the goal is to add 5,000 more apprentices to the system over the span of the next three years to help address the labour shortage.
This bursary announcement is part of a $100 million announcement the province made in October to help recruit, retain and train more people in the skilled trades.
Balser estimates the construction industry will need to add 11,000 skilled trade workers by 2030 to meet the growing demand.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.