The Honourable Lisa Raitt, MP for Halton and Minister of Transport visited Sheridan’s Skills Training Centre Friday, January 9, 2014 to announce the new Canada Apprenticeship Loan program. The program enables individuals registered in a Red Seal trade apprenticeship to apply for interest-free loans of up to $4,000 per period of technical training.
Mr. Craig Brazil, Professor and Coordinator of the Industrial Millwright Mechanic Program at Sheridan, took Minister Raitt on a tour of the 88,000 square foot facility, which is home to 1,300 students in pre-trades and apprenticeship programs including electrical, plumbing, welding, millwrighting and tool and die making. The programs are home to award winning students including Graham Mills (Millwrighting) and Ben Rahim (Precision Machining), who won a gold and bronze medal respectively at the 20th Canada National Skills Competition in 2014.
Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President and CEO of Sheridan outlined the booming demand for graduates of Sheridan’s tool and die program, indicating that Sheridan receives many times the number of job offers from industry contacts as it has graduates who can fill them.
As part of a larger Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, he also outlined the opportunities that graduates in pre-trades and apprenticeship programs have to use their credentials as a stepping stone into many other diploma programs including mechanical engineering, which offers state-of-the art facilities for advanced manufacturing, including robotics and 3D printing.
With respect to the announcement, Dr. Zabudsky noted that “The high-tech, skilled trades training at Sheridan gives apprentices the opportunity to learn creativity and leading-edge skills for the increasingly high-demand careers in the skilled trades. The Canada Apprentice Loans will allow more Canadians to access the necessary training to become the high-skilled in-demand tradespeople our economy needs.”
The Minister spoke of her high esteem for individuals who choose a career path in the skilled trades and indicated her hope that more women enter related professions. While at Sheridan, she also operated a stamping press and created a die-cut maple leaf, stamped with her name as a memento of her visit.