May 28, 2018
For Immediate Release
More Local Apprenticeship Training A Bonus For Area Industries
Stratford, Ontario.
It just got easier for local employers to encourage their employees to apprentice in the Metal Fabricator (Fitter) trade. Technical Training Group (TTG) was approved earlier this year as a Training Delivery Agent (TDA) for Level 2 and 3 of the Metal Fabricator Trade Code 437A, giving local access to apprenticeship and industry training.
“Much attention has been given to the need for skilled tradespeople, a critical issue affecting manufacturing. TTG is taking concrete measures to alleviate this gap by growing opportunities for area employers to upskill their workers,” says TTG Chair, Rick Roes.
This milestone achievement is a natural fit with TTG’s core expertise. TTG has been delivering part-time (evening) apprenticeship training for Welder and Metal Fabricator Level 1 Common Core since 2004. This post-secondary trades’ school will now be able to offer Metal Fabricator (Fitter) Level 2 and 3 to fulfil all the in-school training requirements needed to complete a Metal Fabricator Apprenticeship.
TTG’s implementation plan is to offer Level 2 training in 2018-19 with six to eight Metal Fabricator apprentices training alongside their Welder apprentice counterparts during evening hours. Level 3 will be offered after these apprentices have successfully completed their Level 2 in-class training.
Through this staged implementation process, the full package of Metal Fabricator 437A in-school apprenticeship training will be available locally. This will complement the existing Welder Apprenticeship 456A in-school Level 1-3 offered by TTG.
With access to locally-based training opportunities, especially in the skilled trades, companies and their employees now have a local alternative (during evening hours) for apprenticeship training that takes into account rural accessibility needs for upskilling and opportunities for trade career advancement.
As a TDA delivering apprenticeship training, TTG has access to the Apprenticeship Enhancement Fund. Through this funding TTG has helped create a state-of the art welding training facility at Stratford Northwestern S.S., which has been highly beneficial to high school students, the community and TTG’s apprentices. Over the next two years, this funding will be instrumental in helping to upgrade these tech facilities to accommodate the Level 2 and 3 Metal Fabricator trade training requirements.
TTG is a post-secondary training institution located in Stratford, Ontario. Currently, approximately 50 Welder apprentices each year from across Southwestern Ontario train with TTG through a well-established partnership with Stratford Northwestern S.S. To encourage its Level 3 graduates to gain Red Seal status, TTG offers a 40-hour Red Seal Preparation Course as well as Welder Practical Assessment testing for those who want to write or challenge the Red Seal provincial exam.
For more information, or to register your employees for in-school apprenticeship training, please contact:
Shawn Bontaine, TTG Business Manager
519-801-8844, sbontaine@technicaltraininggroup
