For several years, the Canada-wide shortage of skilled tradespeople has been growing, and is sharply felt in the NWT – especially in the smaller communities. According to Employment and Social Development Canada, nearly one in five of the four million Canadians who currently work in trades is poised to retire by 2030, while the number of young people entering the trades continues to decline. Exposing young people to the trades and helping them consider trades as a viable career option are crucial to helping reverse this trend.
Since 2005, Aurora College has delivered the week-long Trades Awareness Program (TAP) sessions to high school students in the South Slave. In recent years, TAP has expanded to include students from schools in the Tlicho, Dehcho, Sahtu and Beaufort Delta regions, as well as a summer camp option. The aim of TAP is to give students from small high schools access to a variety of trades that they can try out and explore in a safe, fun, educational environment, and perhaps consider a career in trades.
Students first participate in the one-week Introductory TAP, in which they spend one day in each of four trades, attend workshops about career and post-secondary planning and opportunities, experience “College life”, meet students from other communities and participate in recreational activities. They can then return for up to two week-long Intensive TAP sessions, where they focus on one trade for four days. Trades offered have included Carpentry, Electrical, Cooking, Mechanical, Plumbing, Welding, and Hairdressing, among others.
Each delivery is a partnership between Aurora College, regional school divisions, the department of Education, Culture and Employment, local business, and can include Indigenous governments, corporate sponsors and other GNWT departments. Since 2005, nearly 2,000 students have participated in the Trades Awareness Program, and several have gone on to become Journeypersons or work in a skilled trade.
School divisions interested in more information can email TAIT.Training@auroracollege.ca.