Carpentry students get hands-on experience at Montreal-area electrical school

Electrician school gets on-the-job upgrade The only English-language electricians' school in Quebec is in much need of repairs, and so is getting an on-the-job upgrade from students.

Several local carpentry students were given a special assignment this week — build a series of workshops for electrical students at the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre in the Montreal borough of Lachine.

The much-needed upgrade at the centre is a chance for students like Hugo Perrier to get some hands-on experience they wouldn't get in a classroom. Perrier helped erect the walls of the new workshops with his fellow classmates Wednesday.

“Seeing the physical results and tangible results are very gratifying,” said Perrier, a student from the Chateauguay Valley Career Centre. “Just the walls that we're building today, it didn't take that long and you actually see the walls at the end of the day and say, ‘Oh, we actually built that.’”

"It's fun to actually see that what we're learning is reality in terms of the actual job site."

The program is the only one of its kind in English and one that is in high demand.

“There's a waiting list of about three-and-a-half years, so we're trying to expand the program so we can bring in more students and have a couple more groups per year,” said Michael Luciano, a teacher at the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre.

Watch a full report by CTV Montreal’s Matt Gilmour above.