NWT - As he tears up old floorboards in a worn down public housing unit, Tyler Sage thinks about his future.

Derrick Ekendia, left, Derek Mantla and Brian MacKenzie write down what they hope to gain from the trades program, things like getting jobs and providing for their families. - photo courtesy of Barb Curtis

He wants a job, a carpentry apprenticeship, a career of his own.

The first step – certification – is only two months away.

Sage, an 18-year-old Behchoko resident, is the youngest of 11 aspiring tradesmen renovating a house in the community as part of Aurora College's 12-week builder trades helper program. They work six hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., partly in the classroom, learning about power tools, workplace safety, teamwork, upgrading their reading and math skills and training in first aid, forklift operation and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS).

Barb Curtis, adult educator at the Aurora College Learning Centre in Behchoko, said the participants, who are up to 29 years old, are on track to receive certification for the course as well as 125 transferable hours of carpentry training should they choose to pursue an apprenticeship in that field.

"They'll also have an opportunity to work in the construction industry. That could be working for a plumber or for an electrician or for a carpenter and hopefully this will encourage them to move further in a career," she said.

"A lot of these certifications are normal ones that the employer does provide, but to brand-new employees they usually wait three or six months till they get their feet wet, whereas now we're bringing them to (the employer) with all these certifications. And that's a huge cost savings to the employer."

The other portion of the students' day is designated for hands-on construction work in the house – Sage's favourite part.

"The hands on work, that's good," he said. "I want to get through the training."

This is the first time such a program has been run in the community and Curtis said the learning centre received more than 60 inquiries and ultimately 34 applicants, all from Behchoko. The program, paid for with federal funding, was open to young people across the Tlicho region, but there was no housing provided.

"Unless a potential participant was able to get housing themselves in Behchoko, it would've been very difficult for them to stay here." Curtis said. "We stayed pretty local so this is probably the first time that we didn't have applicants from outside the area. We wouldn't have been able to accommodate them."

The renovations and course work are scheduled to be complete by June 4, at which time "we'll give (the building) back to public housing for a much-needed family living space here in Behchoko," Curtis said.