The province is investing more than $5.4 million in industry-standard training equipment for trades and tech students at 15 public post-secondary schools across B.C.. Premier John Horgan made the announcement today at Northwest Community College’s Terrace campus.
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“We need to make sure you have the resources to get the right training,” Horgan said to an automotive class at the college. “We need to make sure you can leave this place and succeed wherever you want to put down your roots.”
Melanie Mark, minister of advanced education, skills and training was also on hand to tour the college campus and meet students enrolled in the trades.
“Students need to get their education and training on the same type of equipment that industry uses,” she said. “Our investment will help students succeed and thrive in a variety of jobs in different sectors – from carpentry to computing through to automotive and web design.”
The funding is intended to help schools replace obsolete equipment and better respond to changes in the industry and curriculums.
Each of the 15 post-secondary schools will receive either $310,455 and $500,000. Allocation was determined by regional distribution, number of seats at each institution and program mix. Four schools received the larger amount to reflect their contribution to the tech programming expansion.
With its share, NWCC has already purchased a new table saw with a unique safety feature, a used Prius for its automotive program and a new industrial stove for its professional cook program.
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“This investment means many of our trades students will be working on modern equipment and using state-of-the-art tools that position them well for the future,” said NWCC president Ken Burt.
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