Several talented NWT students recently took home several medals from a national competition!
On May 26th and the 27th, the 2022 Skills Canada National Competition took place in Vancouver, and saw nearly 350 skilled students and apprentices from across the country showed their skills. They were competing for the title of national champion in over 45 Skill Areas both at the Vancouver Convention Centre and virtually.
The annual Skills Canada NWT Territorial Competition and Skills Canada National Competition encourage Canadian youth to explore and discover skilled trade and technology careers through interactive activities. It also allows us to raise awareness of these critical, lucrative and viable careers for our future workforce in the Northwest Territories.
Blake Moulton, the Executive Director of Skills Canada NWT, shared how the seven NWT competitors fared in the competition.
“Team Northwest Territories did really really well. They faced a lot of challenges through the pandemic with two years of COVID restrictions and regulations affecting school openings. This year, we brought seven competitors in a variety of skill trade areas, and with seven competitors, we’re happy to say we brought home five medals, which for us, is an all time national medaling percentage record.”
Moulton also went into a little more detail about the competitors from the NWT, and some of the skills they displayed.
“We had five post-secondary competitors, and we had two registered secondary competitors, all competing in their own respective trade areas. For example, we had one competition for automotive technology. Our competitor from Aurora Ford, Austin Brown, he took home the silver medal, and had to complete a number of operations under the hood of multiple vehicles. Full inspections, tires, all sorts of things. To complete some of these projects in two days, these competitors are cramming multiple days of work into two, eight hour days. Really impressive time management skills. Really goes to show how talented some of these apprentices and secondary students are.”
While the NWT competitors didn’t win any kind of prize, they still took home top standings in a very challenging display of their respective skills.
The two Secondary Students were Kaitlyn Stewart from St. Patrick High School, who competed in Fashion Technology, and Jaida Dowe, also from St. Patrick, who competed in Hairstyling, and was able to take home the Bronze medal.
The remaining five competitors were the Post Secondary Students, or Apprentices. Adam Nitsiza, from J&R Mechanical, competed in Plumbing, and won the Bronze medal. Deanna Buckley represented the Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine and DeBeers Canada, and received a Bronze medal for Industrial Mechanic and Millwright skills. Connor Fleming, from GAP Electric competed in the field of Electrical Installations, though was unable to take home a medal. The aforementioned Austin Brown from Aurora Ford won a Silver medal for Automotive Technology. Finally, Emma Taylor won a Gold medal thanks to her skills from Mint Hair Salon and MC College.
Congratulations to all of the NWT competitors!
