Centre of excellence to give students hands-on learning in skilled trades and manufacturing

News Release

Education and Early Childhood Development

Centre of excellence to give students hands-on learning in skilled trades and manufacturing

07 November 2023

FLORENCEVILLE-BRISTOL (GNB) – Students in the education system’s anglophone sector can now gain experience and pursue a career pathway in trades and manufacturing with the support of a new centre of excellence.

This is the fifth centre of excellence launched by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. It is part of the Future New Brunswick initiative, which provides experiential learning opportunities to students prior to graduation. The centre also provides professional development for teachers.

Other partners involved with the centre are the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium, the Construction Association of New Brunswick, the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, McCain Foods, New Brunswick Community College, Malley Industries, Skills Canada NB and Opportunities NB.

“This centre will increase awareness of available career pathways in New Brunswick and will grow our province’s human resource capital to meet the needs of the labour market,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Bill Hogan. “We want young New Brunswick talent to stay in our province.”

The centre offers a range of supports and opportunities for students, such as:

• Early engagement with industry through interactive lessons and playful activities.
• Participation in industry networking events.
• Engagement with the New Brunswick Teen Apprenticeship Program.
• Access to specialized training centres and talks from guest speakers.
• Access to engagement days, micro-internships and co-op placements.
• Earning micro-credentials that will contribute to graduation requirements.

“The partnership between New Brunswick's Centre of Excellence for the Skilled Trades and Manufacturing and the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium is a game-changer for the future of our sector,” said Jean-Pierre Giroux, consortium president. “For our consortiums in New Brunswick, it means a stronger, more prepared workforce right out of school with more responsive educators and employers. It is a win-win, linking education with industry like never before.”

The centre and its partners will support the development of curriculum content and give educators access to online resources to support their work.

“The Construction Association of New Brunswick is proud to be a founding partner of the Centre of Excellence for the Skilled Trades and Manufacturing,” said association vice-president Darren Sutherland. “As the voice of the construction industry in the province, we have been working with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development for over a year to get the centre of excellence off the ground, and we are proud to be a part of the launch today. We want to promote the construction industry to a younger generation of New Brunswickers, and we believe the centre of excellence is a great and exciting avenue to do just that.”

The centre is funded by the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium, the Construction Association of New Brunswick and the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.

Media Contact(s): Diana Chavez, Communications, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Full article is available here.