Skilled Trades Blog

Brad Dixon

Recent Posts

COVID-19 ACTION PLAN: ALL CLASSES TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED

Posted by Brad Dixon

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow, The Skilled Trades Academy is working to protect the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. While we have been enacting a series of measure to safeguard student, faculty, and staff wellbeing, we have come to the conclusion that it is essential to temporarily suspend all in-person classes for the time being to protect our community.

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Did you know there is no such thing as an HVAC license?

Posted by Brad Dixon

The skilled trades industry is an important part of our society and economy — tradespeople touch almost every aspect of our daily lives. They build our homes and our cars. They work in manufacturing, mining, oil and gas. Canada depends on the skilled trades, they keep our country going.

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Topics: Ontario Gas Technician, Gas Technician, HVAC Careers

Funding Opportunities for Women in Gas Technician Training

Posted by Brad Dixon

Whether you are just leaving secondary school to pursue the trades or are making a career switch, skilled trades training can be expensive. However, it isn’t impossible. There are skilled trades funding options available specific to trades women to help encourage a more diverse workforce in the skilled trades.

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Topics: Women in the trades, Funding

Breaking Down Barriers For Women in the Skilled Trades

Posted by Brad Dixon

Women are more commonly being recruited into Ontario skilled trades training as the trades workforce continues to become more diverse. By 2020, it is expected that the need for skilled trades labourers will rise to almost 1.8 million workers Canada-wide.

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Topics: Women in the trades

Why is Gas Technician Training a Great Option for Women?

Posted by Brad Dixon

We’ve talked before about why it is important for women to join the trades, but it isn’t just important for the industry, but valuable for the women themselves to join the trades. Many young women overlook the trades because they feel it isn’t a viable option for them, and don’t realize that choosing gas technician training can lead to all of the things they want out of a career. We’ve listed some of the reasons why gas technician training is an attractive option for young women when deciding their career.

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Topics: Women in the trades

The Importance of Women in the Skilled Trades

Posted by Brad Dixon

The skilled trades in Canada is a predominantly male-dominated field, with only about 5% of trade jobs being performed by women. But here at the Skilled Trades Academies, we strongly believe that we are about to see this number rise dramatically. With current trades people getting closer to retirement age, there is about to be a gap in the workforce, and it would be amazing for that shortage to be filled with women in the trades.

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Topics: Women in the trades

The Benefits of Booking A Tour At A Private Career College

Posted by Brad Dixon

When you’re choosing which school to attend for Gas Technician training, all of the information available about each trades school can be a little overwhelming. If you’re more of a hands-on learner, you may find that it’s easier for you to actually visit the schools rather than reading pamphlets and websites. This can help you get a feel for the school, and determine if this is somewhere you would like to study. There are a number of perks to booking a tour at a career college.

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Topics: Ontario Gas Technician Training

How to Follow up with Schools you saw at a Trade Show

Posted by Brad Dixon

Education fairs and trade shows are unique opportunities that allow people who are interested in a career in the skilled trades an opportunity to connect with schools and potential employers face-to-face. They are great events for anybody looking to learn more about the facilities that teach the skills that they are interested in and explore career options.

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Topics: Skilled Trades Career Fair

Important Things To Ask At An Education Fair

Posted by Brad Dixon

The Canadian Mechanical & Plumbing Exposition (CMPX) begins on March 21st, 2018 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The CMPX is one of North America’s largest skilled trade shows for the mechanical industry and will be a great experience if you decide to attend. If attending this trade show is pencilled into your calendar, there are a few questions that you may want to consider asking in order to get the most out of your experience. 

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Topics: Skilled Trades Career Fair

Skilled Trades Academy Celebrates International Women's Day

Posted by Brad Dixon

On March 8, the Niagara Skilled Trades Academy joined the world in celebrating International Women’s Day. If you know us, you know that this day is very important to us as we recognize the value of female trades workers and encourage young women to pursue opportunities in the gas technician industry. Since World War 2, when women were a critical part of the skilled trades industries, the number of women entering our field has dwindled, but in recent years we are happy to report that the number of female workers in the trades has once again started to rise as more women are embracing the trades as an exciting and rewarding career opportunity!  

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Topics: Women in the trades