Curious about a career as a Red Seal chef, working with electronics and robotics, or building and maintaining aircraft?
NIC’s Campbell River campus will partner with Skills Canada British Columbia (Skills BC) to offer community members and students in our region the opportunity to try their hand at a trade today.
Beginning at 10 am, students and community members are invited to drop by NIC’s Campbell River campus (1685 Dogwood Street) and Vigar Road Vocational Centre (2780 Vigar Road). NIC’s knowledgeable instructors will be leading hands-on activities in Electrical, Welding, Culinary Arts, Electronics, Heavy Duty, Aircraft Structures and more.
Campus tours will be offered and a shuttle service between the campus and the Vigar Road Vocational Centre will be available throughout the day.
Presentations will be made by the Industry Training Authority as well as the Canadian Forces, and those attending will also have the opportunity to watch talented young contenders at the 2013 Skills Canada Regional competitions, taking place at North Island College and Timberline Secondary on the same day. The Skills Canada event is an annual showcase of students competing in the skilled trades. NIC’s Try a Trade Day will give students who aren’t competing the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the trades and to watch the competitors who already possess a strong abilities, competing in areas they are passionate about.
Randy Grey, Career Programs Coordinator with School District #71, has been coordinating Regional Skills Canada Competitions for approximately eleven years.
“This is a dream come true for me,” he says. “The competitions we’ve had in the past have been excellent, but with the Try a Trade Day at NIC, other students, not just the competitors, can experience trades for themselves. The opportunity for peer to peer observation is also excellent.”
“We want students to think about trades as an option when they graduate,” continues Grey. “I feel strongly that if more students were exposed to the trades, they may choose education and training more consistent with their true strengths.”
Current statistics support the need for education in the trades. According to the British Columbia Trade Occupations Outlook: 2009-2019, by 2019 Vancouver Island will require 28,250 more skilled workers to fill vacant and new positions.
Skills BC is a proactive non-profit organization that partners with government, educators, private industry and labour to promote and celebrate the skilled trades and technologies as first choice career opportunities for young people across the province.
North Island College is the region’s leading provider of certified trades and apprenticeship training offering education in over 15 different trades.
Stop by NIC in Campbell River today between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to Try a Trade. Everyone is welcome and there is no fee to attend.
For more information on the Try a Trade event or trades and apprenticeship programming at North Island College, visit www.nic.bc.ca.