apprenticeship

Algonquin College Pembroke Campus Looks Back at 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus is looking back on another year of great accomplishments by its students, alumni and employees. Our year in review starts in January when the campus expanded its health care program offerings by adding new sections of the Practical Nursing and Personal Support Worker programs to help address labour shortages in our local health care sector.

In February, the process of naming the campus drum began with a special ceremony led by Elder Barry Sarazin who later revealed that the Grandfather drum was to be named Mishomis Ashage Dwegan. The drum naming came six years after it was built by students under the direction of Elder Skip Ross and knowledge holder Pinock Smith.

Indigenous drummers at Algonquin College's Pembroke campus.

Elder Barry Sarazin leads drumming at a special drum naming ceremony at Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus.

Former Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould visited the Pembroke campus in March as part of the campus speaker series. She spoke about how Canadians can become “inbetweeners” to help strengthen the relationships between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples. After leaving politics, Wilson-Raybould has been an outspoken advocate for Indigenous peoples and has now written several books.

Tree climbing is physically demanding, but students in the Urban Forestry-Arboriculture program were highlighting their climbing skills at their year-end climbing competition in April. The event always attracts a lot of arborist employers who are eager to hire these very talented students.

The Options Skilled Trades Fair continued to promote apprenticeship training as a career option for young people when it was held in May at the Pembroke Memorial Centre. Hundreds of high school students from across Renfrew and Pontiac Counties participated in the event which again included several skills competitions among senior high school students in fields such as welding, carpentry, culinary arts, small engine repair and tire changing.

Jason Blaine holds a key to the city of Pembroke on a stage at his charity concert in Pembroke.

Pembroke campus alumnus Jason Blaine holds a key to the city of Pembroke after his charity topped $1-million raised at his annual concert and golf tournament.

June was a month of celebration. Alumnus Jason Blaine cracked the $1-million milestone in fundraising as his charity golf tournament and concert marked its tenth anniversary. Blaine was also awarded the key to the city of Pembroke, recognition for his talent and his philanthropic support for his hometown. Also in June, hundreds of graduates crossed the stage at our convocation ceremony and our campus Dean, Sarah Hall, was honored with a special coin presented by Garrison Petawawa commander, Colonel Jason Guiney for her tireless work strengthening the college’s relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces.

July brought good news to the campus as it was approved by the province to deliver the Arborist apprenticeship training program. Adding this apprenticeship program is complimentary to the full time Urban Forestry-Arboriculture certificate program that the campus has delivered for several years. The campus also offers carpentry and electrical apprenticeship training programs.

In August, the Pembroke campus sought public input on its master campus development plan. As it looks towards the future, the college is considering where investments will need to be made in its facilities.

Former Olympian figure skater and mental health advocate Elizabeth Manley returned to campus in September to be part of a tree planning activity with Forestry students. The activity was held on International Suicide Prevention Day, giving students and campus employees an opportunity to remember friends and family who have died by suicide. It also opened up a door for Manley to speak about the importance of mental health and wellness, as she shared her own personal journey battling depression during her skating career.

In September, the Outdoor Adventure program marked its 25th anniversary with a special homecoming weekend at Wilderness Tours. Alumni from the program returned to the Ottawa Valley from across the country to re-connect with former classmates and faculty while enjoying a weekend of whitewater rafting and other adventure activities.

Retired General Rick Hillier headlined our Fall Business Leadership conference in October. General Hillier helped the conference attract a large crowd as he shared his experiences leading Canadian troops and offered sound advice on leadership. Television and podcast personality Amber MacArthur returned to the conference to speak about artificial intelligence and its impact on the workforce.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson and Pembroke Campus Elder Marie Wilson pose for a picture.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson and Pembroke Campus Elder Marie Wilson.

Marie Wilson was one of three commissioners to lead Canada’s National Truth and Reconciliation commission. She came to the Pembroke campus in November to speak about her new book, North of Nowhere, which chronicles her experience working with His Honour, Murray Sinclair and Wilton Littlechild for more than six-and-a-half years as they listened and recorded testimony from survivors of Canada’s residential school system.

More than 20 campus employees visited the Chalk River labs of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in December. CNL is a major employer of Algonquin College graduates and co-op students and the tour of the site helped faculty and staff consider future partnerships.

There was so much more that happened this year, but these few highlights show what a vibrant learning community exists at Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus. The college will close for the holiday season on December 24th and will re-open on January 2nd. The Winter term begins on Monday, January 6th.

(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Interim Dean of Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus)

 

 

The Year in Review-2021

Like 2020, the year 2021 was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on everyday life. The pandemic leads our year in review at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus as we reflect on the past 12 months and how our students and employees demonstrated resiliency and worked to help others in need.

The Year in Review-2021

The hopes that came with a vaccination to protect people from the virus also required a huge volunteer effort to operate vaccination clinics. Several Pembroke Campus employees and students volunteered their time at the largest clinic in Renfrew County which operated for several months during the spring and summer of 2021 at the Pembroke Memorial Centre.

The vaccines permitted more activity to be held on campus when the Fall term began, but to protect the campus community, the College introduced a mandatory vaccination policy for anyone coming on campus. Daily screening, mask wearing and physical distancing was also required as the College reduced lab sizes and put in additional safety mitigation practices within programs.

For the second year in a row, the College opted to hold a virtual convocation ceremony. One of the highlights of the Pembroke Campus ceremony was the awarding of an Honorary Degree to Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe spent many years in Pembroke as he started his coaching career with the Junior A Lumber Kings and was a donor to the Waterfront Campus building fund and a bursary set up to support students in financial need.

Sheldon Keefe, Algonquin College, Pembroke Campus, Speaker Series

Photo Source: Maple Leaf Daily News

The Pembroke Campus also celebrated when two of its graduates from the Social Service Worker program, Tom Sidney and Crystal Martin-Lapenskie, were recognized for their career accomplishments when they received an Alumni of Distinction award from the college. Martin-Lapenskie was also nominated for a Premier’s award for her work supporting Inuit youth across Canada, work that included recording a national public service announcement encouraging Inuit to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Martin-Lapenskie

Another alumnus was also making us proud. After a year off because of the coronavirus, country recording artist and Business graduate Jason Blaine returned to his hometown of Pembroke to host a revised one-day charity concert and golf tournament. The event was a huge success as it raised $80,000 for special projects and community organizations in the Pembroke area. $10,000 of the funds raised was donated to Blaine’s endowment fund at the Pembroke Campus which supports students who need bursaries to support their educational investment.

Business graduate Jason Blaine

While the pandemic created many challenges, there were also some new opportunities that helped the College broaden its community outreach. The Pembroke Campus had been hosting a speaker series for more than 20 years, but the pandemic forced the campus to move from in-person to virtual presentations. With no travel requirements for speakers, the campus was able to attract some high profile personalities including His Honour Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, former CBC The National Anchor Peter Mansbridge, Author and Historian Charlotte Gray and Ron MacLean and Tara Slone of Hockey Night in Canada and Rogers Hometown Hockey which paid a visit to Pembroke in December.

His Honour Murray Sinclair

The campus was able to support the Forestry sector through a large government investment of almost $5-million to help the industry attract new workers and train its existing workforce. The Forestry Skills Advance Ontario project was announced in the spring and resulted in several blocks of training being made available to mills and wood manufacturing facilities across the region.

Staff presenting

Partnerships were a big part of 2021 for the Pembroke Campus as the College worked with organizations such as the Renfrew County District School Board to offer special dual credit and Ontario Youth Apprenticeship programs that gave high school students a chance to come on campus to experience the skilled trades. A special summer trades camp was offered that gave students a chance to test drive careers in trades such as carpentry and welding.

Forestry students also helped plant 30,000 trees in Algonquin Park and the Nipissing Forest. The project was sponsored by the Ontario Woodlot Association, the Canadian Institute of Forestry, Friends of the Petawawa Research Forest, Nipissing Forest Management Inc., and the Algonquin Forestry Authority, all important partners to the College’s long-standing Forestry Technician program. As a thank you to the students, a $5,000 donation was made to the College in support of its Forestry program.

Forestry students also helped plant 30,000 trees in Algonquin Park and the Nipissing Forest

The College continued to expand its programming in 2021 with the launch of the Environmental Management and Assessment post-graduate certificate program which began in January. The program proved to be very population with both Canadian and international students. The campus also announced it would have a first intake for a Computer Programming program in January of 2022.

In April, the campus was able to expand its Employment Ontario footprint in Renfrew County when it began offering Employment Services support to unemployed or underemployed individuals in the Eganville and Barry’s Bay areas. The College’s Academic Upgrading program continued to offer most of its programming remotely, creating new opportunities for learners to access the program.

We have only highlighted a few of the many things that were happening at the Pembroke Campus in 2021. We look forward to creating more memories in 2022. Happy New Year to everyone from all of us at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus.

 

Promoting the Skilled Trades to High School Students During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive to many things in life including education, but in some parts of the province there have been some excellent partnerships between Colleges and District School Boards that have benefitted high school students. Renfrew County is one of those places where there is a significant blue-collar workforce and looming labour market shortages.

The skilled trades have been particularly hard hit. An aging workforce, a housing construction boom and a stubborn pandemic have created the perfect storm, but these workforce gaps have also created some urgency for Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus and the Renfrew County Public and Catholic District School Boards to create more opportunities for students interested in skilled trades careers.

Pembroke skilled trade student work

While most Ontario high school students are studying from home, a small group of high school seniors are swinging hammers and making precision cuts as they complete level one of the General Carpenter apprenticeship program at the Pembroke Campus. With the support of the Renfrew County District Health Unit, the two school boards and the College, 18 students are enrolled in the program, nine from each board. It’s part of a School-College-Work-Initiative that helps high school students get a taste of college before they graduate from secondary school.

“It’s been quite extraordinary to watch how this partnership has evolved through the pandemic and the sheer determination by all parties to make this work for students,” says Tracy Norris, Acting Manager of Academic Partnerships at Algonquin College.

While Renfrew County has had its share of positive COVID-19 cases, the population base is much smaller and throughout the pandemic there have been fewer regulatory restrictions imposed on the area. The College has continued to deliver a variety of shop classes and labs in a modified format that includes smaller class sizes, work space protective barriers, physical distancing and mask wearing.

Renfrew shop class (OYAP Carpenter students with the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board pose for a photo wearing masks and socially distancing from one another. Only nine students are allowed in the shop at one time)

The program began in mid-April and will continue until the end of June. Students have been supplied with books, tools and safety equipment relevant to the trade to support their learning. By splitting the students into two smaller groups, it has ensured the college’s adherence to provincial COVID-19 regulations for delivering trades programs. It has also helped with providing strong program oversight and the coordination of transportation for students to and from school daily.

The program schedule has required students to be flexible. While most classes such as understanding building codes, estimating project costs and using power tools safety are being delivered during the daytime, welding classes are offered in the early evening. The students and their families haven’t questioned the schedule, but they have expressed a lot of gratitude that the program is being offered.

“This has been a great opportunity for the students. There is always a lot of interest in the skilled trades in our area and the students were genuinely excited to be part of the program,” says Tina Noel, OYAP Coordinator for the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board.

AC wood burning

With only a small number of spaces available to students, it was difficult to decide what students would be admitted into the program. It didn’t take long to fill the seats, and those seats were well spaced out. Individual work stations were set up and furniture was adjusted to ensure physical distancing both in the classroom and in the shop.

“The attention to detail to ensure the students could safely and collaboratively hone their carpentry skills, while also experiencing college, has been great,” says Alex Harris, OYAP Coordinator for the Renfrew County District School Board.

AC Students build

During the pandemic, representatives of the school boards and the Pembroke Campus have been meeting weekly. The sole objective of the meetings is to find other pathway program opportunities to keep high school students engaged at a time when many of their other classes are being delivered virtually. The regular communication has produced excellent results.

In addition to the Apprenticeship delivery, more than 100 other high school students in Renfrew County have participated in a dual credit course offered during the 2021-2022 academic semester at the Pembroke Campus. These offerings included courses in Communications, Psychology and Foreign Landscapes. An “introduction to the skilled trades” summer course, planned for this July, will be targeted at groups that are not fully represented in the construction sector, particularly young women and Indigenous youth.

This grassroots effort to introduce more young people to the abundance of career opportunities available in the skilled trades is a great example of how the School-College-Work Initiative is making a difference, one student at a time.

The Sideline Master-Pre-Apprentice Graduate Leaves His Mark on the Football Field

Aiden Maher knew it was going to be a long day when he arrived at six o’clock in the morning on November 1st at TD Place field. The Ottawa REDBLACKS were playing that evening and after a day of pelting rain and high winds, Maher understood the field would need a lot of work to get it ready for the team’s final home game of the season.

Aiden-Maher-Grad-RedblacksThe 23-year old Petawawa native had moved to Ottawa five years earlier to secure consistent work as a carpenter, but when he saw an advertisement for a job with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, he applied and landed a position helping to set up and tear down major events like concerts. He was working part-time in carpentry but thought the extra hours working in the entertainment business would help pay the bills.

After a few months on the job, Maher was asked, if he would be interested in helping the field preparation crew. He was curious about the work and once he started doing it, he really enjoyed it. He has now been doing it for five years as one of the organization’s leading Playing Surface Technicians, responsible for painting on both the TD Place field and the ice at the Ottawa Civic Centre.

“It’s a job that can be very demanding”, but Maher loves it. There is a lot of precision to the painting, whether it’s using a stencil to complete the Canadian Football League logo or it’s painting the numerals on the 110-yard long field. “There are some similarities in the carpentry work that I do in that you have to be really focussed to do the job well. Concentration is important,” says Maher.

After graduating from General Panet High School, Maher had enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship Construction Trades program at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus in 2015. The program lasted six months and allowed Maher to complete level one of the theory portion of the carpenter apprentice training program. Students in the program also received a work placement experience, including a large group assignment to re-build Pembroke’s aging waterfront boardwalk.

Boardwalk project student group

“I enrolled because the program was free and I was always doing carpentry work when I was a kid. It was a great experience and got me started in my career,” says Maher. After finishing the program, Maher quickly found work in his trade, but when he was laid off from his job, he and his sister decided to move to the nation’s capital.

His first focus was on finding someone who would take him on as an apprentice so he could continue to hone his skills as a carpenter. It didn’t take long to find a small company that hired him on a part-time basis. That arrangement afforded him the opportunity to look for other work and that’s how he found himself on the sidelines of TD Place Field, keeping a watch on the playing surface.

On game nights, he blends in with the many other team officials who are watching from field level, standing near his alma mater, the Algonquin College Loggersports team. But, there is one thing that stands out. On this cold November night, it’s his jacket, covered in paint streaks, recognition of a hard day’s work.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs

More Canadians Enrolling in Post-Secondary Education-More Needed in the Skilled Trades

As a nation, Canada is one of the most educated populations in the world. New national census data indicates that more than half (54%) of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 had either college or university qualifications in 2016, an increase from 48.3% from a decade earlier.

It’s a trend that Canada can be proud of, but it also sends a message to young people about the importance of continuing on to higher education. The labour market is demanding it with almost all new jobs being created requiring a post-secondary credential.

Masonry - Heritage and Traditional, Algonquin College, Perth CampusA deeper look at the statistics shows that more young men are turning to the skilled trades for their career pathway. That’s encouraging because here in Renfrew County several manufacturers recently participated in a forum to work on community strategies that can help them address some of the challenges they are experiencing in attracting skilled workers. The data says that the proportion of young men who had earned an apprenticeship certificate in Canada increased from 4.9% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2016, but locally there are still more jobs than people to fill them in some trades areas.

Of course, there is plenty of room for women in the trades and initiatives to encourage women to take the pathway as well, but one of the more concerning statistics is that men are not enrolling in post-secondary education at the same rate as women. For the trades, which traditionally have attracted more men than women, that’s a call for action.

Skilled tradesAt Algonquin College’s Waterfront Campus in Pembroke, there are some initiatives underway to help fill these labour market gaps. The Options Skilled Trades Fair has been offered to local high school students for the past 15 years as a grassroots effort to educate high school students on the career opportunities that are available through apprenticeship training. It has been very successful and there are plenty of stories of these students going on to trades school and becoming apprentices.

Our Campus offers full-time programs in Construction Techniques and Motive Power Technician, two important industries in the local labour market. The College also offers various pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs such as General Carpenter and welcomes feedback from local industry on their needs. In order to offer a program, a critical mass of students is required, and through partnerships with local companies, the potential is there to expand programming if a concerted community effort is made to promote the jobs that are currently difficult to fill. If that message gets out, more male and female students will be interested in enrolling in a program that can help them achieve their goal to work in the skilled trades.

Our country is getting older. The national average age has been creeping up for several years. Here in Renfrew County, the average age is over 45 years old. That statistic alone is enough evidence that we need more young people to fill the jobs that are being vacated in our workforce. Let’s start by getting more youth engaged in the skilled trades.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs

Options Skilled Trades Fair-A Community Showcase

_DSC0574-smallFor the past 14 years, Algonquin College’s Waterfront Campus and Renfrew County’s four District School Boards have been teaming up to shine a spotlight on the skilled trades.

The Options Skilled Trades Fair attracts more than 2,000 senior high school students from across the region, providing them with an opportunity to learn more about apprenticeship training and employment opportunities in the skilled trades.

The highlight of the day long show is a skills competition which features more than 200 students competing in trades such as welding, team carpentry, hair styling, small engine repair, culinary arts and much more.

The talent on display is remarkable. Many of the high school students who compete in the competition will go on to become apprentices or will choose a college program within their field of interest.

ac ottawa valley constructionOptions has been recognized by the province of Ontario as an award winning grassroots effort to help the province introduce more youth to apprenticeship training to fill pending or current labour market shortages within many trades.

Apprenticeship training has certainly become a higher priority for both the federal and provincial government in recent years. While it remains difficult for some youth to secure an apprenticeship placement with an employer willing to sponsor them, many will benefit from their experience at Options by networking with potential trades employers and directly learning from them what they look for when hiring an apprentice.

For those students who are motivated to be successful in a trade and can demonstrate the aptitude and determination to learn a skilled trade, the future is bright. Options provides competitors with a chance to showcase their skills and there’s no question employers are looking for new talent. The aging demographics in most trades are a clear indication of the need to have more young people choose a trade for their career.

A MPT student working on a brake systemAnd one last point. Many trades pay very attractive salaries. It’s not the best reason to choose a trades career, but it certainly is a wonderful benefit. Just ask a well established plumber or electrician what their annual salary is?

The Options Skilled Trades Fair will be held May 11th at the Pembroke Memorial Centre. The show is free to trades exhibitors, students, parents and the general public. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will be a hub of activity.

You can expect some past graduates of the Options program to be in attendance. Many go on to successful careers and come back to Options as judges for the competitions. That’s how you know Options is working!

Posted by: Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community & Student Affairs