Anglophone high schoolers can now gain experience to help them pursue a career pathway in trades and manufacturing.
The provincial government unveiled the Centre of Excellence for the Skilled Trades and Manufacturing earlier this month.
The fifth centre of its kind, it’s part of a Future New Brunswick initiative that provides experiential learning opportunities to students prior to graduation.
“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 Minister Bill Hogan.
“We want young New Brunswick talent to stay in our province.”
Officials said the centre offers early engagement with the industry of their choice through interactive lessons and playful activities.
It also allows for participation in networking events, access to training courses and talks from guest speakers, and co-op placements.
Student could also earn micro-credentials that will count toward graduation requirements.
Darren Sutherland, president of the Construction Association of New Brunswick, said the group worked with the province for over a year to get the centre of excellence off the ground.
“We are proud to be a part of the launch,” he said.
“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.”