By Mike Davey
Toronto, Ontario — May 26, 2016 — Students enrolled in Tropicana Employment Centres’ Autobody and Collision Damage Repairer pre-apprenticeship program now have something else to strive for: an I-CAR Canada scholarship. It was recently announced that five of the students from this year’s class will receive training scholarships from I-CAR Canada.
Each scholarship will be enough to take the student to the Platinum level. Depending on which training path the student chooses, the scholarship could be worth up to around $10,000 in training.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” says Marc Tremblay, the program’s coordinator. “We’re already giving our students the opportunity for the best education through our partnership with Centennial College, and now they’ve got the opportunity to access the best industry training through I-CAR.”
Tremblay also notes that simply by taking the I-CAR courses, the students will realize benefits that go beyond the training itself.
“They’ll be learning alongside seasoned techs, so it’s going to be a great chance for them to network as well,” he says.
Andrew Shepherd is the Executive Director of I-CAR Canada. In an interview with Collision Repair magazine, Shepherd pointed to the program’s benefits and the widespread industry support it enjoys.
“The Tropicana program does a superb job of recruiting talent for the industry, especially in helping to bring in students who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to get into the game,” he says. “It’s got proven results, as shown by the hiring rates for its graduates. When the shops are that committed, and receiving that kind of benefit, we want to make sure we do our part in producing as much value as we can.”
For more information on the Tropicana program, please visit tropicanaemployment.ca/services/pre-apprenticeship. More information on I-CAR can be found at i-car.ca.
