Expanded trades training for students and excitement over northern Manitoba’s economy were central themes as provincial Jobs and Economy Minister Kevin Chief visited Flin Flon this week.
He helped the province announce $37,000 to bring welding equipment and improved air filtration to the Technical Vocational Institute (TVI) beside Hapnot Collegiate.
“We want to make [the facility] state-of-the-art,” Chief said during his visit on Wednesday, August 12.
Chief said the investment at the TVI means an expansion of the welding program and will help establish an accredited welding program.
Blaine Veitch, superintendent of schools for the Flin Flon School Division, welcomed the support.
“This investment will help our students build the skills they need and want to develop,” he said. “It gives our students a head start building important skills that will help them access good jobs when they graduate. Investments in high school students can make a meaningful difference in their career trajectory and development when they’ve completed high school. It gives youth new options and helps them grow.”
The dollars came from the province’s Skills Strategy Equipment Enhancement Fund, which helps ensure students have access to quality equipment to learn high-demand skills.
The announcement tied in with the remainder of Chief’s visit as he met with civic, education and business leaders to explain the province’s job-training plans and glean community feedback.
Manitoba’s construction industry alone is expected to create more than 12,000 jobs over the next decade, he said, meaning people with the right skills will have “an enormous amount of opportunity.”
“We’re talking thousands of those jobs being in the North,” Chief said.
He said northern Manitoba is positioned to capitalize on that opportunity with a young population that includes many young Indigenous people.
The provincial government wants to ensure northerners know about the job opportunities and have the skills to apply for them, Chief said.
It’s also important that women know that the jobs are available to them, he said.
Chief said the northern Manitoba employers he speaks to are eager to hire local people, and the people themselves want good jobs in their home communities.
He said he views the North as part of a bigger economic picture.
“When Manitoba’s economy is succeeding, it’s often when northerners are succeeding as well,” Chief said.
– With files from a Government of Manitoba news release
