SAIT apprenticeship program receives sizable donation from Suncor Energy

Students enrolled in trades programs at the Southern Alberta Institution of Technology will soon benefit from a $600,000 donation which will improve the school’s online curriculum.

On Thursday morning, Suncor Energy announced the funding donation which will benefit students in SAIT Polytechnic’s blended learning apprenticeship programs. The programs allow students to complete the majority of their schooling in the field where they can continue to fill vital roles for their employer while collecting a steady paycheque. Apprentices enrolled in a blending learning program are permitted to complete the course’s theory portion online, reducing their mandated classroom time by as much as four months.

“We’re seeing an increase in the program and the amount of students interested in this program as we evolve it,” said David Roberge, SAIT’s Dean of Manufacturing and Automation. “This will be the third year that we’ve been running it and we’re looking at advancing the seats every year.

“It’s also an advantage for industry because they’re not losing their employees off of the jobsite for an extended period of time. (The students) are able to be on the job, doing their job during the day, or reducing their time to be off for school.”

Minerva Paeztirado, who is in the fourth year of the bundled learning program, has benefited from the flexibility blended learning has offered her.

“It really worked for me because, instead of having to come to school for the regular 12 weeks, I only had to come to school for five weeks,” said Paeztirado. “It helps, especially in a financial way.”

“Once I finish fourth year, I’ll be able to write my TQ and my interprovincial so then I would just need to work a little bit on my hours to become a journeywoman and an electrician.”

SAIT’s blended learning apprenticeship programs were established in response to the Government of Alberta’s estimates of a labour shortage of nearly 100,000 workers by 2023.