EJTC Apprentices Excel at Skills BC Competition

The Skills Canada BC Competitions are like the Olympics for the trades. The Provincial competition is held one day a year and was recently held at the Abbotsford Trade and Exhibition Center on April 19th. In this trade competition, a diverse array of talented apprentices from all different skilled trade schools (electrical, masonry, welding, carpentry, culinary and much more) come to perform their trade for industry judges, hoping to advance to Skills Canada, then World Skills.

With millions of skilled trade jobs opening within the next decade, Skills BC helps prepare industry apprentices today for tomorrow’s highly skilled economy. It also provides an opportunity for hundreds of secondary students to watch the trade expo and experience firsthand the different trades they might never have had the chance to see or experience before.

This year, for the first time, the Electrical Joint Training Committee (EJTC) entered two of their Indigenous apprentices (Wakenniosta and Abigail) in the Skills competition for construction electricians. James Mckenna, an incredibly talented instructor at the EJTC, pulled the team (Wakenniosta and Abigail) together to help them prepare. James helped the two competitors start their training a few months before the competition began, and as a group, they spent a lot of time and energy prepping for success.

Both apprentices did exceptionally well throughout the competition thanks to their hard work and incredible mentors and teachers. Abigail took 4th place while Wakenniosta finished strong with 2nd out of 8 competitors. Next year, we expect to see Wakenniosta as the new competitor’s coach and Abigail competing once again.

The EJTC is grateful for its incredible staff and mentors dedicated to supporting and encouraging its apprentices. Their passion is evident through their hard work and the high success rates of their apprentices.

For more information:

Skills Canada BC: https://skillscanada.bc.ca/competitions/provincial-competitions/

EJTC: https://ejtc.org/

Written by: Savannah Davis, ClearWater Communications Co.