A high school graduate from the High Prairie School Division is beginning his working life with a professional certification already in hand — an example of how Alberta students can use trades training to move directly from high school into the workforce.

André Gagnon, a graduate of Georges P. Vanier School, completed all of his required steam time over the summer and is now a certified fourth-class power engineer.

Gagnon began working toward the certification while still in high school through a dual-credit program offered by High Prairie School Division in partnership with Northern Lakes College. The program allowed him to complete Power Engineering studies while also completing his regular Grade 11 and 12 coursework.

After finishing his steam time this summer, Gagnon received several job offers and chose to begin his career with Tolko Industries Ltd. in High Prairie, according to a Sept. 2 announcement from the school division.

His path is an example of a broader effort in Alberta to make skilled trades a more visible alternative to the traditional university route. The province’s apprenticeship system includes more than 50 designated trades and combines paid on-the-job training with periods of classroom instruction.

The push has received significant government investment. Budget 2026 includes $338 million over three years for apprenticeship education, including $288 million for 11 post-secondary institutions and $15 million for union training centres.

Another $54 million is being directed over three years to organizations working to raise awareness of skilled-trade opportunities and reduce barriers to apprenticeship training.

Alberta’s apprenticeship system reached record participation levels in 2024-25, with almost 73,000 registered apprentices and about 77,000 total program registrations, according to a summary of the province’s latest Registrar’s Report.

More than 25,000 apprentices attended classroom training during the year, while the provincial apprenticeship completion rate was 70 per cent.

High school students are increasingly part of that pipeline. The province’s Registered Apprenticeship Program grew 32 per cent in 2024-25 to about 7,200 students, with 2,784 completions.

Northern Lakes College is one of the institutions helping bring those opportunities to students in northern communities.

The college offers dual-credit programs in a range of areas, including fourth-class power engineering, as well as pre-employment and apprenticeship programs in carpentry, electrical, heavy equipment, millwright, pipe trades and welding.

The college’s current trades offerings also demonstrate the relevance of that training to the regional economy. Apprenticeship and pre-employment programs are being offered in Slave Lake, High Prairie and other northern communities, including programs in heavy equipment, electrical, carpentry, welding, millwright and pipe trades.

For students who want to stay in the region, those programs can provide a way to obtain post-secondary credentials without immediately leaving northern Alberta. Local employers are also part of that equation.

Tolko’s trades recruitment materials specifically identify welders, sawfilers, millwrights, electricians, heavy-duty mechanics and power engineers among the certified tradespeople needed to keep its mills operating.

The company says apprentices have opportunities for continued development through on-the-job, online, virtual and classroom training.

The forestry sector is particularly relevant to the region because power engineers and other industrial tradespeople work in the plants and mills that support northern Alberta’s resource economy.

The labour-market outlook varies by trade. Alberta expects shortages in some construction and engineering occupations as the workforce ages, while the federal Job Bank rates power engineering as limited provincewide but moderate in the Athabasca–Grande
Prairie–Peace River region.

For Gagnon, the training has provided a direct path from high school to a certified occupation and a job with a regional industrial employer. It also demonstrates how dual-credit programs can give students post-secondary credentials and practical career training before they finish high school.

His experience offers a local example of a broader shift in how Alberta students can approach education: university remains one route into a career, but skilled trades offer another.

William Hetherington
Lakeside Leader