Ottawa, ON, November 3, 2021– Skills/Compétences Canada (SCC) officially launched the 17th National Skilled Trade and Technology Week (NSTTW) yesterday at A Virtual Career Exploration Event. This event brought awareness to parents, youth, educators, and career seekers about the incredible skilled trade and technology career opportunities that are available across Canada.
This year, due to Covid restrictions, SCC hosted the official launch of NSTTW 2021 on a virtual platform, on November 2nd. At this event, we had over 25 industry and education partners, industry celebrities, SCC alumni and many of our Skills Canada Member Organizations in attendance. Students had the opportunity to learn about career and education pathways in the skilled trades and technologies, interact with partners through text chat, answer trivia questions, check out SCC’s virtual stage and learn about the 9 +1 Skills for Success. This year’s theme was Creativity & Innovation, one of the Skills for Success. Student visitors could also participate in an exciting contest for a chance to win a drone. This virtual platform will be open for another three months and SCC encourages those who missed this event to check it out by registering for FREE at nsttw.vfairs.ca.
In addition, SCC in partnership with the RBC Foundation, held a panel discussion on Crushing Barriers to the Skilled Trades where participants discussed the misconceptions, best practices and required preparation when pursuing a career in the trades. The guests spoke about the barriers they have faced while on the job, how they dealt with them, and how they continue to thrive in the industry. This panel gave audience members a real perspective of a diverse skilled trade worker. Celebrity guests included Sam Effah, RBC Olympian, Sebastian Clovis, HGTV Celebrity and Siobhan Detkavich, Top Chef Canada competitor. SCC also shared inspiring content on their social media channels including SCC’s ‘I Love My Job’ video series where we highlighted careers in the skilled trades and technologies and featured several of SCC’s partners and alumni through TikTok and Reels style videos.
“This virtual career exploration event was a great way to encourage students to discover the variety of careers that exist in the skilled trades and technologies. It also enabled our future skilled workforce to learn more about the many educational pathways that they can follow including apprenticeship”, said Shaun Thorson, Chief Executive Officer, Skills/Compétences Canada.
According to a recent report by the RBC Foundation, over 700,000 skilled tradespeople are expected to retire by 2028. This will be leaving the job market in Canada without enough apprentices to replace them.
NSTTW is a key date in the annual Skills/Compétences Canada (SCC) calendar. From October 31 to November 6, SCC’s provincial/territorial Member Organizations across the country will host a series of events to promote skilled trade and technology careers in Canada. For more information, visit the NSTTW webpage on the SCC website.
About Skills/Compétences Canada
Founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization with partner Skills Canada organizations in each of the provinces/territories that work with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trade and technology careers among Canadian youth. Its unique position among private and public sector partners enables it to work toward securing Canada’s future skilled labour needs while helping young people discover rewarding careers. Skills Canada offers experiential learning opportunities including skilled trades and technology competitions for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial, national and international events, as well as skilled trade awareness programs including the Skills for Success program. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Skills Canada is the Canadian Member organization of WorldSkills. For more information, visit www.skillscompetencescanada.com or call 877-754-5226.
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Media Contact: Michèle Rogerson, 343-883-7545 ext.509, micheler@skillscanada.com.
