Grande Prairie's New Skilled Trades Hub

0:00Grande Prairie stepping up big time to become Northern Alberta's go-to spot for trades training. Northwestern Polytechnic is wrapping up a 40,000 square foot skilled trades training center set to open this fall at the corner of 100. 12th Street and 100th Avenue. It's for heavy equipment techs, auto service, plumbers, gaspitters, and steam fitters, while they're also renovating campus spots for carpentry and welding. They're consolidating everything from fair view into Grande Prairie this summer, boosting apprenticeship seats from about 1300 to over 1500. The goal is to train local talent right here so folks don't leave for jobs elsewhere and forget their roots. High schools are jumping in early with dual credit programs, 24 students this year, expecting 36 next. The Try Division partnership between Catholic, public, and Peace River schools links up with NWP and industry like Triple Thread Diesel for heavy. Equipment of apprenticeships, giving kids hands-on shots even before full approval hits.

1:04Meanwhile, a new trades charter school, Grande Prairie Technical Institute launches this fall for grades 7-12. Kids sample automotive, carpentry, welding, or culinary paths, blending them into core classes like chemistry through cooking reactions, aiming for 250 students at first. These moves from NWP schools and the charter spot are syncing up perfectly to build a pipeline of skilled workers who stay and thrive in the north. This has been Canada News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story.