Apprenticeship Awards honour best of industry

Apprenticeship is a time-honoured method of training the next generation of tradespeople and, each year, Saskatchewan’s apprentices prove their abilities as they become certified journeypersons in their chosen careers. For the past 12 years, the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) has held an Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony and Banquet every autumn in order to recognize and reward particularly talented new journeypersons and teams.

“The Apprenticeship Awards is an opportunity for us to celebrate the accomplishments of these journeypeople in achieving what is really a very significant credential,” said Jeff Ritter, chief executive officer of the SATCC. “The whole apprenticeship program typically takes between two and four years and, upon completion of their apprenticeship, they’re eligible to challenge the certification, which we call the Red Seal. Once they’re certified as journeypersons, that credential is recognized across Canada.”

Recipients of the awards, however, distinguish themselves beyond their peers. “The awards honour newly certified journeypeople who are outstanding in their trade,” Ritter said. “Essentially, that evening is a bit of a showcase of talent, because the other thing that is synonymous with the skilled trades is, of course, skill. These are trades that require talent and skill, and having an ability to recognize the most outstanding of a really talented lot is something that’s pretty exciting for us.

“We issue a number of awards in that evening,” added Ritter. “The Outstanding New Journeyperson awards go to the journeypersons who received the top mark on the certification exam in each trade — and there are over 50 of them.” Recipients of the award are given a trophy, a certificate of achievement, a letter of congratulation and a watch.

The best of those 50 receives an additional reward. “We have another award that we call the George Pellerin Memorial Scholarship,” Ritter said. “That goes to the highest-achieving, newly certified journeyperson in all trades. Across all of the trades in Saskatchewan, the one that achieved the highest mark would receive that.” The sole recipient of the scholarship benefits from $500 and a presentation letter.

“We have another award that’s called the Commission Board of Directors Scholarship. This goes to the highest-achieving, newly certified aboriginal journeyperson,” said Ritter. “The Commission Board of Directors Scholarship winner receives $400 plus original artwork by an aboriginal artist.”

Another accolade presented during the ceremony is the Bruce Pearce Scholarship, the recipient of which is chosen by the SATCC in partnership with a number of other agencies. “It goes to the recipient who’s completed a program at the Regina Trades and Skills Centre and who has also entered into an apprenticeship,” Ritter said. “Bruce Pearce was instrumental in setting up the Regina Trades and Skills Centre. He was a longtime educator and, tragically, was killed in an accident. This is a way for us to recognize his contribution to skilled trade.

“We also present the Outstanding Board and Technical Training Team Awards,” added Ritter. “Apprenticeship isn’t just reliant on the cooperation between an employer and an apprentice — it also requires the cooperation and support of the entire industry in determining the standards required for certification and helping with the validation of the exams for testing.

“The Outstanding Board and Technical Training Team Awards recognize a trade board and a technical training team who have done some outstanding achievement in terms of advancing the trade,” Ritter said. The group named during the ceremony receives certificates of achievement for each member of the team and a trophy to share amongst themselves.

Other distinctions are awarded based not on annual tradition but on the SATCC’s need to observe unusual achievements. For instance, the Artisan Award is bestowed only when a person involved in apprenticeship and trades distinguishes themselves in a way that demands special recognition. “It is exactly as you would expect — ‘artisan’ is a big word, and it suggests something like master craftsmanship,” said Ritter. “The award recognizes really significant contributions to apprenticeship training and trade certification or some absolutely outstanding personal achievement and dedication to the trade. We really do try to issue it to the artisans.”

For other industry members, the awards ceremony provides an opportunity to present their own special awards to deserving recipients. “This is also a venue for industry to recognize some of their employees,” Ritter said.

Such accolades benefit more than the recipient of a particular award. “I think it’s always nice to be recognized for your success in your chosen career,” said Ritter. “Recognition that you are the best in your graduating class gives some external validation, but I think that it means things for the other actors that participate in it, as well.

“For employers, it’s a chance to showcase their commitment to training. You don’t have a journeyperson without an employer that’s willing to train somebody, so the success of the journeyperson is also the success of the employer or the training system or the technical training provider. It’s an opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of all of those different actors.”