Thank you to all those who attended AMBA’s AGM this year and to our honorable guest speakers, Nicole Mahoney and Raymond Massey. Nicole and Ray work extremely hard to support and empower our trades and we are very fortunate to have them leading our policy and program development.
The meal, prepared by NAIT’s Culinary Arts students, was truly an outstanding fine dining experience! The Speakers’ presentations were informative on government policy and program changes that directly affect our industry and our trades.
We were also able to present Harv Friesen from Kesho Construction with a retirement gift, acknowledging him for his many years of service on the AMBA board and his contribution to our industry. The Jim Mitchell $1500 1st year MBSE award and the 2nd year MBSE bursary of $750 were presented to Cody Bexson of Bexson Construction on behalf of Andrew Hurley who recently completed his 2nd year apprenticeship at NAIT.
Here is a recap of the presentations on changes to the MBSE/Ironworker program:
Graduating MBSE/Ironworkers receive an education credential, issued by the Education Ministry. Educational credentials can help employers, even those outside of the trades, understand the level of education you have received. They can also help open doors to further education; post-secondary institutions may grant credit toward other relevant post-secondary programs based on your credential.
The ‘Blue Book’ has been replaced by a ‘Competency Portfolio,’ which is a more useable document. There will be information sessions coming out later this year from the Alberta Government and NAIT on this and other changes, so stay tuned!
MBSE/Ironworker students no longer need to be sponsored by an employer and can be either self, employer, or PSI (NAIT) sponsored.
Blended training (theory portion delivered online/practical portion delivered at NAIT) is available.
Provincial and Federal financial supports/incentives are available to both Employer and Apprentices (loans, grants, scholarships, and awards) – Don’t forget to take advantage of AMBA’s awards and bursaries!
Your Alberta Metal Building Association will continue to advocate for our MBSEs and our industry, working closely with NAIT and the ABST (Alberta Board of Skilled Trades).
If you are a certified MBSE/Ironworker, you can also become involved in contributing to and participating in the direction of our industry and your trade: Sign up with the NAIT Alumni Association, or enroll with TACE (Trades and Apprenticeship Community of Expertise).
