WEYBURN – The Government of Saskatchewan announced continued support for skilled trades training through a $2.5 million investment into pre-apprenticeships training, at a news conference held at Southeast College’s Weyburn campus on Wednesday morning.
This funding will support a targeted expansion of more than 200 additional pre-apprenticeship skills training seats in construction-related trades, including 36 new spaces at Southeast College.
“As Saskatchewan continues to grow economically with record investments, population increases, and job gains, we need to ensure the province has the skilled and flexible trades workforce available to facilitate this growth,” Minister of Immigration and Career Training Jeremy Harrison said. “This targeted seat increase will ensure more learners have the opportunity to train and develop the technical skills required to support Saskatchewan’s booming construction industry.”
This seat increase applies primarily to approximately 20 construction-related trades including, but not limited to, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, welding, construction trades labourers and heavy equipment operators. These programs are currently delivered at the regional colleges, Dumont Technical Institute, and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies.
At Southeast College, the new seats will be in the electrical, plumbing and pipefitting, and welding programs, along with the heavy equipment operators program.
"Investments to boost the number of training seats for skilled trades are crucial in Saskatchewan, particularly for Southeast College, given the significant number of infrastructure projects underway in the southeast region," Southeast College President and CEO Vicky Roy said.
"This generous funding of $2.5 million will add more than 200 seats in construction-related pre-apprenticeship training programs in our province, providing interested learners with the opportunity to access meaningful career paths. By ensuring a skilled and flexible trades workforce, Southeast College will support Saskatchewan's booming construction industry and facilitate the province's economic growth. We are grateful to the Government of Saskatchewan for their commitment to advancing progress and creating a prosperous future for our province."
Saskatchewan's post-secondary trades training system is currently producing sufficient supply to support the ongoing replacement of workers in the construction sector. However, investments to bolster the number of training seats for skilled trades is needed to keep pace with the significant number of infrastructure projects underway in the province.
This new funding, provided to training institutions across the province, ensures interested learners can access this programming and start on a path to a meaningful career.
The Government of Saskatchewan will continue to provide programs, services and innovations for job seekers and employers, advancing progress toward Saskatchewan's Growth Plan goals of 1.4 million people and 100,000 new jobs by 2030. The province is focused on working with employers and job seekers to ensure the province can recruit, train and retain the labour force Saskatchewan needs to support its growing economy.
