From left, Patrick Dillon of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, Durham College Plumbing apprentice Andrew Page, Durham College President Leah Myers, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Jason Mitchell of W. Mitchell & Sons were at the Durham College Whitby campus on August 24 to celebrate the Ontario launch of the federal Apprenticeship Incentive Grant. Flaherty presented the $1,000 cheque to Page.
Students considering or pursuing a career in the skilled trades now have even greater incentive, following an announcement on Friday, August 24 at the Durham College Whitby campus by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
After a tour of the campus's Skills Training Centre and meeting with Durham College apprentices, President Leah Myers, administration and faculty, Flaherty formally launched the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG) in Ontario on behalf of Monte Solberg, minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada. He also made a ceremonial cheque presentation to Andrew Page, a Durham College Level 2 Plumbing apprentice.
The AIG provides a $1,000 cash grant per year to registered apprentices who have completed their first or second year in a Red Seal trade program, on or after January 1, 2007, and will help apprentices achieve their goals by offsetting the costs of tuition, travel and tools. It is estimated that up to 100,000 apprentices in Canada will be entitled to receive this taxable cash grant annually.
At Durham College, 175 of the 1,500 apprentices registered during the 2006-2007 academic year received the grant, and 781 were eligible to apply. Durham College offers 17 apprenticeship programs, 11 of which are Red Seal, which allows for the practising of a trade in any province or territory in Canada without having to write further examinations.
The Durham College Skills Training Centre is one of the leading such centres in Canada and is located at the Whitby campus. It offers an amazing 220,000-square-feet of classroom and shop floor space.
Durham is the only college in Ontario to offer an Elevating Devices Mechanic apprenticeship program, which utilizes two state-of-the-art elevators and an escalator in the delivery of in-school training. In addition, its Hoisting Engineer: Mobile Crane Operator is also the only college program of its kind in the province and utilizes boom and crawler cranes in the delivery of simulated and practical crane training to apprentices. The college's Motive Power Technician-Service and Management students and Automotive Service Technician apprenticeship students receive relevant, hands-on training with up-to-date equipment and vehicles provided through generous donations from General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Honda and Toyota.
Durham College's apprenticeship programs are as follows (*Red Seal):