Atoskewin Success Centre’s new Women in Trades program sees strong interest

Twelve applicants will be selected for the program that starts on Aug. 4. Participants will learn how to build Tiny Homes in the process. Students will work on the project at Atoskewin Success Centre’s site in North Battleford as well as at a location in Sweetgrass First Nation.

Students will learn everything, including framing, the carpentry and labour details involved, and the finishing work on the structure.

“Pretty much building a house right from the ground up is what we are going to be doing,” Albert said. “We’re doing everything except the electrical part and the plumbing.”

Albert and her supervisor, a lead journeyman, will assist and provide instruction to the women participating in the program. Participants will also be able to use the training to pursue a career. They can also use their experience and hours accumulated in the program for the first year of a carpentry program.

“It would benefit them in the construction world,” she said of the Women in Trades program.

Based on the turnout for the program orientation sessions, Albert said it appears many women are interested in pursuing this type of non-traditional career for women, so she is glad the trades skills training program is now available.

Albert herself said she became involved in the field after finding the work rewarding.

“I looked into carpentry. My father is a carpenter. So seeing him do [projects], I fell in love with the trade, and I also wanted to do it on my own,” she said. “Now I am slowly progressing, and am on the way to achieving my journeyman’s [certification] in carpentry.”

Albert has also started her own company in the process.

More programs available

Atoskewin Success Centre offers several skills training initiatives. In addition to the Women in Trades program, an Esthetics and Hairstyling training program are also available, including instruction at the facility’s teaching salon.

Alexis Christensen, communications director for Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc. (BATC) said Atoskewin Success Centre also has a job placement manager working with local companies, and various industry work camps in the area, such as in the oil and gas field, getting people job-ready and placing them where they are needed.

Atoskewin Success Centre also offers training in courses such as First Aid and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System.

The centre has a summer student program as well to provide individuals with experience while working at the facility itself or at First Nations in the area.

Following COVID-19 precautions is also a priority as the facility prepares to begin programs again.

Bill Ironstand, emergency management coordinator for BATC, ensures Atoskewin Success Centre is following all the province’s COVID-19 regulations to ensure everyone’s safety. Ironstand’s role is to make sure all COVID-19 related protocols are in place for BATC and the Atoskewin Success Centre.

“It’s a very large job right now; everything around the pandemic has been our focus,” Ironstand said. “We’re doing everything we can to flatten the curve, and continue to flatten the curve at the BATC facilities and in our communities.”

Similar to other facilities, the Atoskewin Success Centre site was initially required to close to the public at the beginning of the pandemic, but continued to offer its services and is now open again.

With Ironstand’s guidance, the centre is following all the COVID-19 requirements and procedures, Christensen said, which has “allowed us to so far have a good success rate in being able to open in a healthy way but also in a confident way.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

by Angela Brown

Atoskewin Success Centre’s new Women in Trades program sees strong interest

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