REGINA — The Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC) has begun in Regina.
The event features 600 competitors in over 40 skilled trade and technology events.
Shaun Thorson, CEO of Skills Canada, talked about the importance of exposing people to the workforce.
”There are a lot of plans around infrastructure projects, housing and skilled trades [that] are tied to all of those. So [it's] important for us to make sure that young Canadians understand that there are opportunities.”
Each event has an opportunity to have one representative from each province/territory.
The representative for Saskatchewan in the welding competition is Grade 12 student Marcus Belitsky.
Belitsky picked up welding in Grade 10 and decided to start competing in events, including provincials.
He trained for hours/months preparing for the event, as he had to go up against fellow classmates to represent Sask. on a national level.
“I think it's quite an honour being able to represent your province. I’m pretty lucky to be here.“
Belitsky said his competition requires a mix of MIG welding and stick welding, and one of the toughest challenges so far was understanding the print changes made.
Thorson noted roughly 400 volunteers help design the technical challenges, which are different yearly.
“These tweaks can depend on the province, some of the new trends [and] processes being used in trades.”
Each competition has at least one judge evaluating the projects, which includes meeting criteria laid out by organizers.
The SCNC continues until Friday at the Viterra International Trade Centre.
