The Government of Saskatchewan has proclaimed November 3-9, 2024 as Skilled Trade and Technology Week in Saskatchewan. (Government of Saskatchewan/Website)

By Austin Mattes

Skilled Trade and Technology Week

Importance of trades and technology among young Canadians

Nov 7, 2024 | 5:00 PM

This week, November 3-9, has officially been deemed as Skilled Trade and Technology Week by The Government of Saskatchewan to align with National Skilled Trade and Technology Week, proclaimed by Skills Canada.

The importance of skilled trade and technology careers is clear as they have a big impact on our economy and are an excellent career path for many young Canadians.

“Skilled trades are very important and a key economic driver within our province. There are skilled trades in every sector of our work regardless, people often think of the skilled trades as literally just trades, but they are a part of everything, whether it be agriculture, mining, natural resources, renewable energies and our engineering industries and so on. So it’s extremely important” said Brenda Suru, Dean of the Faculty of Technology and Skilled Trades at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

But that being said, a lot of young people in Canada don’t know how to get into the industry and really aren’t sure of what it entails.

“I can’t stress enough how much we need to get into the secondary school system and even starting as young as probably grade sevens and eights when they are just starting to think about what the world of work might look like, there’s so many job opportunities today that they’re people don’t even think about.” Suru added.

Skilled Trade and Technology Week

Importance of trades and technology among young Canadians

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That’s why Skills Canada Saskatchewan (SCS) and the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) support this week as they use it to raise awareness and highlight career opportunities in the trade and technology sectors.

One way they are doing this is by hosting a skills fair today, November 7 at Campus Regina Public for middle-year and high school students, so they can learn and get an idea of what jobs in the sector are like.

For young students who are interested in getting a start in the trades, they can join the Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship (SYA) program, which is designed for high school students to help discover and learn about working in the skilled trades through hands-on experience.

The SYA is developed and overseen by the SATCC, and students who register as apprentices in Saskatchewan within five years of program completion receive 300 trade time hours and get the Level 1 technical training tuition and apprenticeship registration fee waived.

Apprenticeship is a post-secondary education pathway in which 85 percent of the learning happens on the job with the other 15 per cent happening in a classroom. Institutions such as Saskatchewan Polytechnic are contracted by the SATCC to provide apprenticeship technical training across the province. Saskatchewan Polytechnic is the SATCC’s largest training provider.

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austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes