Provincial injection into apprenticeship program applauded by aspiring tradespeople

“I have a passion for it and I want to pursue it as a career,” said Lacroix. “It’s great money and it’s easy to get good at.”

Lacroix is one of thousands of Albertans registered in the province’s Registered Apprenticeship Program and is working towards his journeyman license at Recce Custom Process Equipment.

“Once the school year started, I got in with the RAP program and I’ve been working there from 6:00 to 12:00 every morning and then I go to my classes in the afternoon,” said Lacroix.

This week, aspiring tradespeople like Lacroix received a boost from the provincial government in the form of a funding announcement for CAREERS: The Next Generation.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, CAREERS chair Jim Carter said the funding tripling to over $6 million per year by 2022-23 will mean more opportunities for Alberta students.

“Because of this multi-year investment we’ll be able to, with our school partners, quadruple the number of internships that we facilitate,” said Carter.

CAREERS, which serves to help students find paid internships in industry, will double from 494 high schools and junior high schools last year to 1,000 by 2023.

“That’s great news, it’s a great program to be in right now,” said Lacroix. “I’m excited to see what they come up with.”

Medicine Hat High School principal Boris Grisonich said this money is an investment for the next wave of the trades workforce.

“It’s a scary thing for our kids who are graduating from high school and don’t know what’s going to come next,” said Grisonich. “I think anytime you can put money into programming and into business or into the economy, it’s going to create more opportunities for our kids.”

Due to demand, Medicine Hat High School has already capped enrolment in their welding, mechanics, and cosmetology programs.

Grisonich added this announcement will allow students to intern in programs they aren’t able to offer at the high school level here in Medicine Hat.

“For example, forestry or the medical trades and stuff like that, there’s opportunities for kids where we don’t have enough to run the program here,” he said.

Just this past fall, a new culinary program was added to Medicine Hat High’s trades wing.

Head instructor and chef Jamie Moore said he knows how valuable real world experience is for local employers, being a former business owner himself.

“If they don’t have any kind of experience, that’s very costly to the business to train them,” said Moore. “So, if there’s any kind of programs that can help get them some of that experience, get them hands-on or help take off the pressure on both sides, then it will help for me as a former business owner.”

Over the last year, over 70 percent of RAP students in Alberta have gone on to continue their training elsewhere.

Lacroix is set to join that number saying he’s ready to turn his experience, both in the school shop and in industry, into a lengthy career in the trades.

“I’m already done my first year for hours, I’m working on my second one right now,” he said. “So, when I get out of high school I can go straight to college and do my first year.”

According to the provincial government, close to 14,000 apprentices were registered in 2018 across Alberta.

by Scott Roblin

Provincial injection into apprenticeship program applauded by aspiring tradespeople

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