The Skills Ontario Competition took place May 8-10 in Toronto, ON. It is the largest skilled trade and technology competition in Canada. Winners from this competition proceed to the National Skills Canada competition May 28-29 in Halifax, NS. The Electrical Installation competition offers Secondary School students and Post Secondary Apprentices under 30 years of age the opportunity to showcase their skills. This competition is sponsored by the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO) in partnership with the IBEW along with the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). Jodi Hill, IBEW Local 353 member, is the chair of the competition. IBEW members belonging to the 11 locals that comprise the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario volunteered their time to plan, setup, oversee and judge the competition. They also set up demonstrations and “try a trade” activities for elementary and high school students.
IBEW volunteers (left) and the “try a trade” activities they provided to students
The Electrical Installation competition took place May 9 and of the 20 post-secondary competitors, 8 were IBEW apprentices. It is a full day event that tests both skill and endurance. While some competitors said it felt like a typical day at work, others were a little rattled with having an audience while they worked. All of our apprentices handled themselves extremely well and we are very proud of the work that they did.
IBEW Apprentices: Haider Zahid, Local 353; Mitchel Weynerowski – Local 586 (PS 7); Jesse Swayze – Local 105 (PS 6); Zachery Desjardins – Local 1687 (PS 8); Erik Robertson – Local 804 (PS 11);Jacob McDonald – Local 120 (PS 10); Matthew Golbourne – Local 353 (PS 13) and Brianna Cloutier – Local 115 (PS 15)
At the end of the day we had 5 of the 8 apprentices finish in the top 10! As usual we had a strong presence on the podium with Gold and Silver medals. Jacob McDonald of Local 120 (London, ON) took the Silver and Erik Robertson of Local 804 (Kitchener, ON) took Gold. Erik will be moving on to the National Skills Canada competition at the end of the month. Thank you to all of our members who volunteered in making this competition a great success.
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IBEW Apprentices (above) |
The IBEW was also well represented in the Post Secondary Powerline Technician Competition. PLT competitors compete in pairs showcasing their skills in troubleshooting, maintaining and improving an electrical distribution system in a safe and efficient manner. IBEW 636 members Noah Glos and Eric Symes (Enwin Utilities) and Chloe Penno and Scott Thomson (Oakville Hydro) were among the nine teams competing. Both teams represented the IBEW well. Congratulations to Chloe and Scott on their second place finish!
IBEW 636 Members Scott Thomson and Chloe Penno receiving their silver medal