By Erin McLaughlin
Winnipeg, Manitoba — June 7, 2017 — The Skills Canada National Competition is a national multi-trade technology competition for students and apprentices across Canada, with specific competitions for over forty different trades and skills. The collision repair industry is represented with two events, Autobody Repair and Car Painting. SCNC’s primary goal is to promote skilled trades and technologies to Canadian youth, and eventually make Canada a world leader in skill development. To do this, competitions are structured to best emulate what is actually going on in their respective industries, focusing on skills that are most necessary for student and industry needs while remaining up-to-date with the current industry demands.
There were also two “try-a-trade” activities at the national event. The CCIF Skills Program brought its virtual paint booth, providing over 14,000 students with an opportunity for a hands-on try at painting. Toyota Canada brought a 2017 Highlander Hybrid vehicle to demonstrate the new advanced safety features in today’s vehicles.
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| Liann Potts of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, volunteering at the virtual training booth. |
The winners of Secondary auto collision this year were Gabriel Richer-Guinard, who received Gold, Martin Krutsch, who received Silver and Dan Danley, receiving Bronze. Post-secondary auto collision winners were Colin Bailey, receiving Gold, Marc-Andre Benoit, receiving Silver and Andreas Roth, the bronze winner.
The secondary car painting gold winner was Matthew Norris. Myriam Bisson received Silver and Christopher Pittman received Bronze. The post-secondary gold winner was Jacob Hooper, then Jarred Upshaw with Silver and Catherine Matthewson with Bronze.
SCNC’s great opportunities do not end at receiving a medal. “The competitions help students get their foot in the door, as the judges and attendees are often people in the industry,” said Bill Speed of Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute. He spoke of one competitor who had yet to even complete his apprenticeship, but regardless received a job offer after an industry member watched him compete. Shops could certainly benefit from this too, as it provides a perfect opportunity to assess current young talent, open doors for recruitment opportunities and prepare to replace the aging industry.
For competitors, the benefits of participating in SCNC go even further than the possibility of employment. Speed added that life-long friendships often arise out of the competition, and it gives young people a general “heads up” on what’s going on in the industry. The competitors very often return as Skills Canada volunteers to give back and help the next generation. Many of the national level volunteers participated at provincials, nationals, and some even competed in World Skills.
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| Paul Stella working with a group of students at Try-a-trade. |
The process of preparing for SCNC is never a walk in the park, though it does differ widely depending on various school boards’ training programs. For Speed’s students, SCNC recruitment and training begins in September – many months before the June competition. The first several months consist of a weekly training session, and then expand to two or three training sessions a week as the year progresses. Some competitors arrive with even more training under their belt, others much less so, and some, in fact, arrive with no formal SCNC training at all. Nonetheless, many competitors are lucky enough to have a teacher like Bill that are willing to put in their own time and effort for training arrive more prepared and usually perform better.
“I would like to acknowledge the hundreds of volunteers and companies that donate funds, parts, materials and equipment to Skills Canada events across the country,” said Leanne Jefferies, who works with Skills Canada on behalf of the collision repair industry. “Together we are making a huge difference in the lives of our young competitors, and showcasing the great career opportunities to tens of thousands of students.” At the national event in Winnipeg, the collision industry attracted huge crowds and had television coverage from Shaw Cable and Sherry Holmes’ video crew.
Companies that supported this year’s national competition by supplying the much needed equipment and supplies are AMH Canada, Arslan, Praxair, Lincoln Electric, 3M Canada, LKQ, Uniram, PPG, and SATA Canada. This was also complemented by the financial sponsors of the CCIF Skills Program and many onsite volunteers including a team from Manitoba Public Insurance.
This year, 31 winners of the 2016 SCNC will train to qualify as members of WorldSkills Team Canada. WorldSkills team Canada will be heading out to the WorldSkills 2017 competition in the United Arab Emirate’s Abu Dhabi. The collision repair industry is being represented for the first time by two female Team Canada competitors, Vyolaine Dujmovic (Autobody Repair) and Ashely Weber (Car Painting).
For more information, please visit skillscompetencescanada.com/en/
