Yellowknife (Feb 24/03) - Students from 15 Northern communities descended on Yellowknife last week to get trade savvy.

More than 200 students were hosted by Skills Canada NWT/NU for a young men's conference promoting trade labour.

"I think it's a bit of an eye opener to the student to give them an idea what kind of jobs are out there," said David Lafferty, a chaperon from Fort Simpson. "I think that it helps to educate them this way. They get to talk to someone who might be working in a career they might be interested in."

Lafferty said it is a great opportunity to ask questions and decide on future career paths.

It was also the first opportunity for young men in the NWT to attend such a conference.

The goal is to encourage students to consider trades as a career path. With fewer tradespeople across the country, conferences such as these are becoming more important, said Lafferty.

"Our most important resource is you," said Yellowknife MLA Charles Dent, the keynote speaker, to the students who crowded the conference room of the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife.

Dent said by 2010 the national skilled labour shortage could begin impacting negatively on the Canadian economy.

Julio Blaine McDonald, a student at Mackenzie Mountain school in Norman Wells, said the conference was "pretty cool."

Without these opportunities, he said, students wouldn't have the chance to learn what is available to them.

Skills Canada NWT/NU executive director Alyson Stroeder said the conference went well.

She was pleased with commitment from the variety of businesses that volunteered their time to the conference. Stroeder said she hopes next year to have some participation from Nunavut. This year a lack of funding didn't allow any eastern arctic communities to participate.

"They have to fund themselves. As the word gets out I'm sure we'll see some people get involved."