A special announcement came from the Tłı̨chǫ Government and MP Michael McLeod. On February 23, the Tłı̨chǫ Government in partnership with the federal Government, announced the Government is investing over $2 million in the Tłı̨chǫ trades Apprenticeship program.
The announcement builds on the already 13 Apprenticeship Service projects announced in May. Through the service, the Government is investing over $393 million across 19 projects to help create more than 42,000 apprenticeships in Canada.
The project will provide financial support to small and medium enterprises in the Tłı̨chǫ Region to hire 30 first-year apprentices in eligible Red Seal trades over the next two years.
Eligible trades include carpentry, construction, gas fitting, and drywall finishing among many other options.
The organizations funded under the Apprenticeship Service will distribute incentives to enterprises and provide additional support, such as help navigating the apprenticeship system.
“Our economy and our communities depend on skilled trades workers. That’s why we are supporting apprenticeships in the Tłı̨chǫ Region and across the Northwest Territories so that more people can learn a trade while earning a living.” MP Michael McLeod said in the announcement.
The Government is looking at educational institutions to partner with and aid students through the process.
“We need to have qualified tradespeople in our communities and that means they need to be trained in an institution as well,” Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty tells My True North Now.
Lafferty says that the Yellowknife polytechnic school has yet to announce any funding for the program but the Government has made plans to work with the institute in the near future.
“When it’s up and running (Yellowknife Polytechnic), we will be working with them and other institutions as well,” Lafferty adds.
