NAIT is receiving $1.5 million in provincial funding over the next three years to develop a pre-apprenticeship program supporting newcomers who are looking to enter the skilled trades in Alberta and beyond.
The Accelerated Trade Entry program will provide support to newcomers to Canada and under-represented Albertans interested in apprenticeship training while simultaneously reducing the cultural, financial and language barriers these individuals face.
The program will roll out over three years, with each year building on the previous.
- Year 1 (2022-2023) will focus on assessing learners’ skills and suggesting meaningful learning pathways to target knowledge gaps. NAIT will also work with translators and subject matter experts to translate the Alberta Trade Entrance Exam into nine languages – Arabic, French, Hindi, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish and Tagalog. This will be available to learners in the Fall of 2023.
- Year 2 (2023-2024) will focus on supporting learners as they navigate Alberta’s Apprenticeship and Industry Training entrance requirements. This includes developing courses for Alberta Trade Entrance Exam preparation and English language training specific to trades professions.
- Year 3 (2024-2025) will include additional trade-specific upskilling courses such as trades safety, technical drawing, small tools, and trades math, helping learners build a strong pre-trades foundation as they begin specializing in their chosen career paths.
Program development is a collaborative effort between NAIT’s Continuing Education and the School of Skilled Trades. The polytechnic will also work with industry to help inform curriculum development, and with newcomer centres to help connect learners to the Accelerated Trade Entry program.
The investment is part of the Alberta at Work initiative, a collection of strategic investments to help Albertans develop new skills and grow their careers. The Government of Alberta also recently announced that NAIT is receiving $9 million to expand five high-demand programs, $760,000 to expand apprenticeship seats and $650,000 to develop three micro-credential programs aimed at helping Albertan reskill and upskill.
Quotes
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
Mailing Address:
11762 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB, Canada, T5G 2R1
At NAIT, we honour and acknowledge that the land on which we learn, work and live is Treaty Six territory. We seek to learn from history and the lessons that have come before us, and to draw on the wisdom of the First Peoples in Canada. Only through learning can we move forward in truth and reconciliation, and to a better future together. Read more
Contact us
Visit the Student Service Centre or Contact page for more information.
