NBTAP Team in Schools across the Province to Promote Skilled Trades as Meaningful Career Choice

NB's Job-Seeking Youth Represent Solution to Aging Labour Force

SAINT JOHN, NB, Feb. 21, 2014 /CNW/ - Now in its third year, the New Brunswick Teen Apprentice Program (NBTAP) team will be traveling the province launching its campaign to promote the skilled trades in more than 20 schools in the province. Their main goal is to encourage students in Grade 10 to seriously consider a trades career.

"There is a lot of uncertainty for young people as they face their futures, however showing the number of skilled trade career options that are available in our province through apprenticeship helps brighten their faces pretty quickly," said NBTAP's Executive Director, Christina Taylor.

Taylor who will lead the NBTAP promotional campaign throughout New Brunswick said the youth unemployment rate in NB is high and finding a job after graduation is a big concern for the students her NBTAP team connects with.

"We've had an overwhelmingly positive response from the students and schools we visit. This upcoming generation of students in our province is so smart and serious about their futures. They are thinking about making choices now that will set them up for success in their lives. Finding a job when they graduate is top of mind. We're there to offer them options."

The NBTAP team has worked with more than 30 employers province wide to identify trades where those employers forecast future job opportunities. NBTAP will promote the merits of these high paying career options for young men and women in the skilled trades such as welding, carpentry, cooking, landscaping, and pipefitting to name only a few of the 54 skilled trade apprenticeship options that exist in the province.

"Together  government, industry, and high schools are giving young people the skills they need for jobs in our province including the thousands of jobs expected from large scale projects like responsible shale gas development, the west-east pipeline, and jobs related to our new forestry and innovation plans," said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Jody Carr. "It also helps address labour challenges resulting from an aging population."

The Buildforce Canada- NB Construction Looking Forward 2014-2023 report suggests that during the 2014 and 2023 time period there will be over 5500 skilled trade jobs available in the construction and maintenance industry in New Brunswick.

Taylor says that as New Brunswick's population ages and more NB skilled trades employers face shortages as workers reach the age of retirement, getting young people aware, interested, and trained for a skilled trade career represents the solution to looming labour force shortages.

The New Brunswick Teen Apprentice Program is a springboard for many students looking to get into the trades by starting a pre-apprentice program that includes three consecutive summers of hands-on training with a participating employer in their area.

"NBTAP is an industry-led program that works to connect trades-minded students directly to employers," said Taylor. "The experience for our students is proving to be an invaluable opportunity and it is one step toward addressing some of the labour issues we face in the province."

As part of the promotional campaign, the NBTAP team will work directly with NB trades oriented companies to participate in the program and offer mentoring positions for students.

About NBTAP

The New Brunswick Teen Apprentice Program is an industry-led, three-year pre-apprentice program for students starting in Grade 10.While still in high school, qualifying students begin to learn a skilled trade with a participating NBTAP employer in their area. NBTAP includes three paid summer work terms and available high school trades course electives. Students work toward completion of the first block of a skilled trades apprenticeship through paid summer work experience and are encouraged to complement their practical training by taking trades course electives during high school. In 2014 the program will expand across southern New Brunswick as well as to the Moncton, Richibucto, Bouchtouche, Fredericton, Grand Falls, St Leonard and St Quentin areas. www.nbtap.ca

List of Skilled Trades in NB
Liste des métiers spécialisés au N.-B.

Agricultural Equipment Technician	Technicien de machinerie agricole
Appliance Service Technician	Technicien d'entretien d'appareils électoménagers
Automotive Painter	Peintre d'automobile
Automotive Repairer	Débosseleur d'automobile
Automotive Service Technician	Technicien d'entretien automobile
Bricklayer	Briqueteur-maçon
Cabinetmaker	Ébéniste
Carpenter	Charpentier
Commercial Trailer Technician	Technicien de remorques commerciales
Computerized Numerical Control Machinist	Machiniste de commandes numerériques informatisées
Construction Boilermaker	Chaudronnier-monteur
Construction Electrician	Électricien en bâtiment
Cook	Cuisinier
Distribution Construction Lineman	Monteur de lignes de distribution
Heavy Equipment Service Technician	Techniciens d'entretien d'équipement lourd
Industrial Electrician	Électricien industriel
Industrial Mechanic (Millwright)	Mécanicien-monteur industriel
Instrumentation and Control Technician	Technicien en instrumentation et contrôle
Insulator	Calorifugeur
Ironworker	Monteur de charpentes métalliques
Landscape-Horticulturist	Paysagiste-Horticulteur
Lather (Interior Systems Mechanic)	Latteur (mécanicien de systems internes)
Machinist	Machiniste
Motor Vehicle Body Repairer	Débosseleur-peintre (metal et peinture)
Oil Burner Mechanic	Mécanicien de brûleurs à mazout
Painter and Decorator	Peintre et décorateur
Plumber	Plombier
Power Engineer (4^th Class)	Ingénieur spécialisé en force motrice (4e classe)
Powerline Technician	Monteur de lignes sous tensions
Recreation Vehicle Service Technician	Technicien de véhicules récréatifs
Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Mechanic	Mécanicien de réfrigération et climatisation
Sheet Metal Worker	Tôlier
Small Equipment Mechanic	Mécanicens de machines à petit moteur
Sprinkler System Installer	Monteur de réseaux de gicleurs
Steamfitter-Pipefitter	Tuyauteur-monteur de tuyaux à vapeur
Steel Fabricator (Fitter)	Monteur de charpente d'acier
Transport Refrigeration Service Technician	Technicien de système de réfrigeration pour transport
Truck and Transport Service Technician	Technicien d'entretien de véhicules de transport
Water Well Driller	Foreur de puits d'eau
Welder	Soudeur

SOURCE: New Brunswick Teen Apprentice Program

Media Contact: 

Carolyn Van der Veen
506 202 1869
[email protected]