Changes have been made to a training trades program offered to immigrants and indigenous people with an interest in a career in construction, reports the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC).
This pre-apprenticeship program is designed to help build important skills for people interested in joining the construction industry.
The program now runs for six months. Participants will upgrade skills in English, math, science and employment, receive technical training through the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), become certified in safety and first aid, and gain work experience. Costs of the program will include tuition and living expenses. However, grants and living allowances are available.
Those that qualify must be underemployed or unemployed, born outside Canada or are an indigenous person, have been a resident of Alberta for at least three months, currently live in Calgary, want to enter a career in the trades, and/or received a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level five or six.
The program is run by the Momentum Community Economic Development Society – a not-for-profit organization working to help people below the poverty line. The trades program is funded in part by the Alberta government and the Government of Canada.
