New pilot project offers skilled trades experience to N.S. Grade 12 students

N.S. students get a new path to skilled trades Students in Nova Scotia will have a new opportunity to enter skilled trades with NSCC.

A new pilot project will offer Grade 12 students in Nova Scotia a pathway to skilled trades.

The project will allow any Grade 12 student who meets graduation requirements by the end of the first semester to join two skilled trades programs at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC).

“This is an exciting opportunity for our students. Many students in our skilled trades programs are eager to begin post-secondary opportunities when they have completed high school courses at the end of the first semester,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan in a news release Thursday.

“This partnership with Nova Scotia Community College creates a pathway for our students to achieve their dreams of a career in the skilled trades faster.”

A total of 34 students will begin at NSCC in February 2025. Twenty students will take part in the pre-apprenticeship plumbing program at the Sydney campus while 14 students will take the pre-apprenticeship electrical construction and industrial program at the campus in Truro.

Five seats in each group will be designated for First Nations and African Nova Scotian students.

“We know students learn in many ways and we need to support new and different pathways for learning,” said Minister of Advanced Education Brian Wong.

“It’s important students have options that help them succeed and this is a great opportunity for graduating students to explore the skilled trades sooner.”

The nine-month program will allow students to graduate in November 2025, in hopes of letting them enter the workforce faster. Students will also have two weeks of break in June to celebrate their graduation from high school.

The pilot project in set to begin in the fall.

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