June 26, 2009

Heating and roofing training facilities join Conestoga College training stream

Centre of Excellence expanding

DON PROCTER

correspondent

Conestoga’s College is busy adding to its Construction Centre of Excellence campus in Waterloo with a roofing training centre set to open its doors this September and an HVAC training facility to follow a year later.

The 12,000-square-foot Roofing Skills Training Centre being developed in partnership with the Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association will offer programs and courses in a range of formats. The objective is to develop the province’s most advanced roofing skills training facility for all sectors of construction, says Andre Beaudry, vice-president of development and alumni, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

“We’d like to deliver programs that support new and emerging roofing technologies and construction practices. We want to heighten the state of practice for the industry by giving employers the best possible training programs for their employees.”

The centre will also target new immigrants and unemployed adults looking for a new career. “There are people who have been laid off in certain sectors, especially manufacturing, who would love to get a skilled trade.”

Meanwhile, the 10,000-square-foot HVAC Skills Training Centre will be up and running at Conestoga’s Waterloo campus in the fall of 2010. Conestoga has been developing the centre in conjunction with the Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute (HRAI). It will include training in facilities maintenance and heating plus apprenticeships in sheet metal and air conditioning for residential and ICI building sectors.

Not all of the programs will be directed at people getting into the field for the first time. There will be certificate programs specific to professionals looking at upgrading their skills in such areas as energy conservation technology and automation systems for HVAC. It will also run various diploma programs.

“There’s been a demand from industry for a number of years for a dedicated facility to train technicians and technologists in HVAC and finally we’re going to be able to offer it,” says Beaudry.

The two centres are being developed at the right time. Last year a study concluded that Conestoga is “significantly undersized” for its catchment area, he says.

The two trades facilities follow on the heels of the new 10,000-square-foot Centre of Excellence for the Masonry Trades at Conestoga’s Kitchener campus last year with an intake of 18 apprentices in January. The new facility aims to train 100 or more masonry apprentices and related tradespeople annually.

Conestoga also has a school geared to carpentry. The Ontario Woodworking Centre at its Kitchener campus offers courses tailored to various carpentry trades.

Recently, Conestoga received a $72 million federal/provincial government grant primarily geared to the School of Engineering, which includes the skilled construction trades centres at the Waterloo campus. “How much of it flows down to skilled trades remains to be seen but we got we asked for,” says Beaudry, adding that Conestoga will be looking for private funding to complete its financial commitments to the new training schools.

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