Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops is offering area students the chance to learn bricklaying, tile setting, and cement masonry in one program, which is the first of its kind in B.C.
The Trowel Trades Foundation program is unique because it offers training in three Red Seal trades under one umbrella.
TRU Dean of School of Trades and Technology Lindsay Langill said the six-month program was designed in response to a shortage of skilled labourers in the field – especially in the region, where a program like this wasn’t available before.
“It’s just such a fantastic opportunity for us in this area to be able to offer the students opportunity to get involved in a trade like this, where there’s such a demand,” Langill said.
Langill said all 11 students in the first session, which ends on Aug. 31, have secured employment in the field.
The program is taking registrations for the next session of the course, which starts in September.
“So many employers in this area are desperately needing skilled workers in this field,” he said.
Instructor and Red Seal brick and stone mason Geoff Higginson said the program is aimed at making students employable.
“My job is to get them as much hands-on experience on the tools as I can, plus help them cover off the theoretical stuff that’s part of the apprenticeship exams for Level One,” Higginson said.
The majority of the program focuses on what can be learned on the job site, and students who get hired for jobs during the course of the program get participation credit for those jobs.
He said the course will produce more tradespeople in the area, where there’s a shortage, and that having a program like this available in Kamloops might entice more students to pursue these trades.
“The interest has been from industry and people who want to go into the crafts to have training here in this area,” Higginson said. “It’s really difficult for apprentices to travel to the Lower Mainland to do the apprenticeship training.”
Local concrete company Norgaard Ready-Mix is one of the area businesses that supports trade training in the region and for the region.
“The mason industry is almost a dying breed,” Al Norgaard, the company’s president, said. “It’s part of our industry and we need our industry to stay strong with good, qualified people coming up through the ranks.”
Norgaard said the company has a long involvement with TRU and its School of Trades and Technology, and the company recently supplied some cement for students of the program to work on. Higginson said the trowel trades students are learning brick and stone, tile and marble, and concrete plastering on the donated cement.
“I’m just excited about [the program] and I hope it’s successful,” Norgaard said.
