Alberta announces investment in 80 new apprenticeship seats

EDMONTON — The Government of Alberta has announced an investment to add 80 apprenticeship seats at Northwestern Polytechnic.

The province is contributing $341,800 to create the new seats and all of them will be available for students in the 2022-2023 year, states a news release.

There will be 24 new heavy equipment technician and 12 automotive service technician seats in Fairview, and 20 industrial mechanic and 24 electrician seats in Grand Prairie.

“Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs identified a growing shortage of trade professionals. To ensure Alberta’s growing and diversifying industries have access to the talent they need, apprenticeship-style programming needs to be expanded,” reads the release.

The funding comes from the Apprenticeship Technical Training Grant which is held by Alberta Skilled Trades and Professions.

“Making sure there are opportunities for students to pursue this type of training in all corners of the province is key to developing a world-class workforce and growing our economy,” said Demetrios Nicolaides, minister of advanced education, in the release.