Skills Canada (French: Compétences Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of careers in technology and skilled trades. One of their major activities is the presentation of the annual Skills Canada National Competition. This is an Olympic-style competition which actively promotes careers in the technology and trades fields. Each Canadian province and territory has its own chapter of Skills Canada and they hold qualifying provincial competitions in their respective areas to determine their provincial and territorial candidates who will participate at the annual Canadian event. Competitors are of high-school or post-secondary age. The purpose of Skills Canada is to open the eyes of young people to the world of skilled trades. Canada is experiencing a shortage of skilled labourers, and Skills Canada hopes to fill in that gap. The baby boom generation has reached retirement age and the country is having difficulty retaining workers, adding to the shortage. Competitions are held at the provincial and territorial levels, with the best competitors from each province reaching the national event. Biannually, the top competitors in the country are invited to the WorldSkills competition.
Contents
Competition areas
Areas of competition at the annual Skills Canada National Competition are divided into six sectors. These sectors and competitions are:
Construction Sector
Employment Sector
IT Sector
Manufacturing Sector
Services Sector
Transportation Sector
Competitions
To date, twenty-one competitions have been held: