Seven students participated in the first Indigenous Skills Competition in New Brunswick in December 2019 as the result of a partnership between St. Mary’s First Nation, Kingsclear First Nation, Skills Canada NB, New Brunswick Community College (NBCC), Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL), and the Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI).
The participants in the Skills Competition are currently enrolled in a trades orientation program for Carpentry, Plumbing and Electrical in Kingsclear First Nation. The first four weeks of training were in Carpentry followed by four weeks of training in Plumbing and the final four weeks of Electrical training started in January 2020. This trades training has been enhanced by the addition of Workplace Essential Skills training.
The students participating in the Indigenous Skills Competition had to complete a National Skills Competition carpentry project in 2 ½ days. While the completion time is longer than what is given at the National competition, the planning team adjusted the timing to take into consideration that some of the competitors had little to no experience in the carpentry trade prior to their four weeks of training in that trade. The planning team wanted the competition atmosphere to be comfortable, relaxed, and fun while the participants were building on skills they had learned in the carpentry portion of the program.
The judges were impressed by the participant’s work. In the scoring, only 7 points separated first from third, and the winner was only 2 points ahead of second place. The level of talent the competitors had shown in the brief time of the program was evident in the end results. “The results are amazing,” said the competition judge, “just participating in the competition shows that you are all winners!”
The day of the competition featured an elder and opening prayer, greetings and congratulations by partners, the medal ceremony and awards, a celebratory turkey dinner with friends and family, and a closing prayer.
JEDI would like to congratulate all of the participants on their hard work and we look forward to seeing where this training takes you.