SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Eighteen-year-old Conlan McKee has been perfecting his carpentry skills at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre (KCTC) for the past three years.

St. Patrick High School student Conlan McKee, 18, works on a wine-bottle box at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre last week. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

The centre's co-ordinator Larry Connolly - head administrator at the Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) owned-and-operated career centre - said McKee has been working with classroom assistant Charlotte Curtis, building bird houses, Christmas decorations and other marvels with wood.

McKee is just one of 4,700 students who have come through the doors in the 11 years the centre has been in operation.

The four instructors are red-seal journeymen - a qualification which takes between three and six years to obtain and qualifies the recipient to work in their trade in all provinces and territories. Connolly said the centre exposes city students to the trades - starting them in an introductory course in Grade 8 - and emphasizes trades as a first career choice.

"One of the things I see is education caters to academic students who are going to go on to college or university," said Connolly. "That's not reflective of real life. A portion of them will go on to do skilled trades."

Connolly said the territory desperately needs to address a pending lack of skilled tradesmen.

"Just in the mining sector alone," he said. "In 2014, there was a shortage of 155 skilled workers. They're projecting in 2019 that will be 390. By 2024, it will be 965."

He said the future labour crisis for the mining sector prompted mining operations to contribute substantially to the centre's construction in 2003. De Beers Canada contributed $500,000 to the project, he said.

KCTC students have done well, said Connolly, such as Torin Dowe who won silver at the 2014 Skills Canada National Competition in the welding category.

People seem to think you can leave high school and enter the trades directly, said Connolly, but that isn't necessarily the case.

"Trades is not something you can go directly into, you still have to get a post-secondary (education)," said Connolly.

At KCTC, Connolly said students can study carpentry, hairstyling, welding, small engine repair and robotics. The advantage of pursuing a career in trades is that you can earn as you learn - it's easy to find part-time work in a trades field while attending classes, said Connolly. And after graduation, Connolly said the demand for skilled-workers is high.

"The demand will always be there," he said, adding current economic doldrums are bound to turn around. "We're at a lull, but it will come back."