SHEET METAL INDUSTRY TRAINING BOARD
SHEET METAL WORKERS TRAINING CENTRE SOCIETY
18 students conquered the extreme heat over the summer months! This was another outstanding class with 18/18 Level 4 Sheet Metal students successfully completing Level 4! The Interprovincial Red Seal exam results were good too. Well done everyone. Best of luck to each and every one of you!
This collaborative Skills Ready initiative has been a great opportunity to introduce women to sheet metal and build more diversity in our labour force. So far, ten women participated in this one day ‘bootcamp’ workshop taught by Sheila Sadler, a female journey. Several have been hired by contractors including Modern Niagara and Viaduct Sheet Metal Ltd.
Building on the momentum of the Women in Sheet Metal Advisory Committee, in late November, we will launch the advisory committees for the other key groups targeted in our UTIP project: Indigenous People and Newcomers to Canada. Attendees will share their experiences and help shape equity, diversity and inclusion in the sheet metal industry. Watch for email invitations to RSVP.
The largest gathering of tradeswomen in the world will take place on December 1-3 in Washington, D.C. The Tradeswomen Build Nations conference brings together women from across North America representing diverse trades. We will have 12 SMART Local 280 delegates attending this event to represent the sheet metal industry.
Our training centres were visited by several prestigious guests over the last few months at both our facilities. Our new Valley training facility has increased our capacity to meet the growing demand for apprenticeship training led by industry demand and Skilled Trades Certification. However, we continue to seek additional funding ($750,000) needed for the last two phases of renovations, particularly the completion of the Valley welding department. These government officials and industry leaders learned more about the growing need for sheet metal training and puts SMWTC on the radar for potential funding in the future. These visits also spread the word that sheet metal is a great option for people choosing skilled trades as a rewarding career!
Our partner, BC Building Trades identified key players in diverse trades to become youth trade ambassadors for the College of BC Building Trades. The youth trade ambassadors visited the Main training centre in Surrey on September 26th to learn more about sheet metal. They will be working with high school educators to schedule workshops with students interested in the trades.
Our recent journey, Nicole Pasqualini, Ridge Sheet Metal was one of the outstanding group of activists out for the 2023 BC Building Trades Youth Conference on October 16th ahead of the BCBT’s Constitutional Convention in Victoria! This is the future of the labour movement!!
Our partner, the Construction Foundation of British Columbia coordinated a skill-building workshop with residents onsite at a minimum-security healing centre on September 28, 2023. This was a great opportunity for residents to explore the sheet metal trade as a potential career choice. Sheila Sadler, sheet metal journey, assisted participants to craft “Carry Some” metal toolboxes. This initiative was hosted in recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sep 30, 2023) to conduct outreach to the indigenous community.
Hosted onsite at Valley training facility, there were representatives from SMART Local 280, retirees, families and friends in attendance showcasing 20 vehicles. Jud Martell, Training Coordinator and Board Trustees provided tours to participants interested to see the new facility.
Well, we certainly have some catching up to do! Let’s start with the Skills Canada National Competitions. This national event brings together the best of the best with over 500 competitors from across the country to participate in over 40 skilled trades and technology competitions. Thousands of students attend each year to learn more about rewarding careers in the trades by watching the competitors and visiting exhibitor booths and engaging in interactive Try-A-Trade and Technology activities.
The theme was Embracing Adaptability: Navigating Change in the Skilled Trades and Technologies.
There were three new features:
1) Skills Symposium bringing industry, government and education together to exchange and share knowledge;
2) Skills Showcase featuring First Nations, Inuit and Metis Skills; and
3) Empowering Women in Trades
This was the first event since 2019 due to the pandemic. This unique event blended a smaller scale in-person competition with a secondary virtual competition. Both were live streamed on the SCC’s YouTube channel.
The Sheet Metal Industry Training Board’s had visitors keen to participate in our two activities:
1) jelly bean counting contest and
2) selfie contest to win a gift basket
Special thanks to SMART Local Union 280 and the board for donating the contents of our gift basket. We also directed people to our popular Try-A-Trade interactive booth.
Sheet metal competitors were presented with the challenge of building this copper train engine. Congrats to the Team Canada winners from SK (Gold), MB (Silver) and ON (Bronze). This was a qualifying year to compete at WorldSkills Shanghai 2022. Sheet metal does not have a competition at the world level.
SMART Local Union 280 hosted one of the most popular interactive Try-A-Trade activities. Our sheet metal Try-A-Trade booth was constantly busy with hundreds of visitors hammering out personalized dog tags. There was rarely a spare hammer and die set throughout the day. Special thanks to our sheet metal workers volunteers for the day:
Kimmie Caunce, Spectrum Sheet Metal
Sheila Sadler, Viaduct Sheet Metal
Troy Martell, Termel Industries Ltd.
Kudos to the SMART Team for coordinating the Try-A-Trade:
Steve Davis, Local 280
Mark Curtis, International
Troy Clutchey, Local 280
Jeff Lind, Local 280
Great job everyone!
The Canadian Sheet Metal Apprenticeship Competition was held last summer in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Scott Wilcox represented our SMART Local Union 280 at this event.
Competitors worked on a copper lobster trap project and many spectators admired the skills and craftsmanship of the sheet metal apprentices. Here is what the contestants had to say about the competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7uxDbB2hE&t=201s
Scott is our 2022 winner of the Alex Donaldson Award. He was presented the annual Top Apprentice Award at SMACNA-BC Christmas Party in November 2022.
Scott is also the inaugural recipient of the Franco Pederzini Memorial Award. Apollo Sheet Metal Ltd. has established a perpetual scholarship award in memory of Franco Pederzini, a SMITB Trustee/SMWTCS Director (2018-2019).
We kicked off 2023 by officially expanding! We now offer training at two locations — our current “Main” location at 19077 95A Ave in Surrey, and our new aptly named “Valley” facility is strategically located further east in the Fraser Valley at 5514 275 Street in Langley.
Purchased in 2021, the Valley training facility is a two-story building sits on a half-acre lot in the growing Gloucester industrial park in north Aldergrove. The site offers approximately 12,000 square feet of instructional and office space.
The increased demand for additional seats was triggered by a number of factors including:
• The pandemic created a backlog of apprentices seeking training
• Increased interest in trades — SkilledTradesBC (previously the ITA) introduced Skilled Trades Certification with sheet metal being one of the first ten compulsory trades identified
• Increased demand for technical training — labour market shortages and attrition (retiring workforce)
We completed the first phase of renovations and hired additional instructional staff in time to launch classes starting in January 2023. The Main and Valley locations now offer two classes per facility, therefore eliminating the afternoon classes.
The Valley facility is functional for technical training but not at full capacity for all levels of technical training as the shop area still requires additional training equipment and a fully operational welding department. Currently, sheet metal students must swap schools within the schedule for certain components of technical training so the welding department can be utilized by the Level 1 & 2 Valley students. It is a juggling act and we appreciate the staff and students being flexible to accommodate.
Jud Martell, Training Coordinator says the Valley still needs a half to three quarters of a million in work. Jud was quoted in the Spring 2023 volume of the Sheet Metal Journal: “It needs these important finishing components before it will be ready to handle full sheet metal classes at all levels. Right now, it is kitted for sheet metal level 1 and 2 and all levels of architectural.”
The reality is that figure is closer to $750,000 with the cost overruns experienced within the first phase of renovations and the projected increased costs of equipment and building materials. Phase two will include industrial equipment and stainless-steel work to prepare the shop for level 3 and 4 technical training, and the third phase will include the fully operational welding area.
The Sheet Metal Industry Training Board has tapped into federal funding previously with the Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) that provided $425,000 towards training equipment that is currently being utilized at both facilities. The Board is seeking options to diversify funding for the second and third phases of renovations.