A new Central Alberta Trades Strategy (CATS) sets out a bold, coordinated plan to transform how trades training is delivered, accessed, and supported across the region over the next five years.
Co-Leads from Red Deer Polytechnic and NOVA Chemicals at NOVA Chemicals Joffre Site celebrate the launch of the Central Alberta Trades Strategy (l-r): David Pye, Dean, School of Trades and Technology (Red Deer Polytechnic); Rob Thompson, Vice President of Manufacturing West, NOVA Chemicals; Lindsay Engel, Vice President, Academic and Student Experience (Red Deer Polytechnic)
Developed through extensive cross-sector collaboration led by Red Deer Polytechnic and NOVA Chemicals' Joffre Site, the strategy brings together educators, employers, workforce organizations, and community partners to respond to growing demand for skilled trades professionals while addressing long-standing barriers facing learners and employers alike.
"Central Alberta is at the centre of Alberta's economic transformation, with growing demand for skilled trades across construction, manufacturing, energy, transportation, agriculture, and services," says Lindsay Engel, Vice President, Academic and Student Experience at Red Deer Polytechnic. "While Alberta's trades model leads Canada in training, there are still issues surrounding access, pathways, learner completion, and employer access. This strategy speaks to both the urgency of these challenges and the opportunity ahead. By working together across sectors, central Alberta can lead the way in innovative, accessible, and regionally responsive trades training."
"From an industry perspective, the challenge is immediate. Industrial operations depend on highly skilled, technically proficient tradespeople," says Rob Thompson, Vice President of Manufacturing West at NOVA Chemicals. "This approach strengthens the pipeline of job-ready workers for years to come by expanding the labour pool, inspiring young learners, engaging underrepresented groups, and improving completion and retention rates. We look forward to implementing the Central Alberta Trades Strategy as a way to strengthen our industry and create opportunities that ensure a strong trades workforce and a healthy central Alberta economy."
The Central Alberta Trades Strategy outlines seven interdependent initiatives designed to modernize trades education and strengthen workforce alignment across the region. Together, these initiatives aim to improve access, flexibility, coordination, and the long-term sustainability of trades training.
At its core, the strategy proposes:
- Regional training hubs and satellite access points to expand access in rural and remote communities through mobile training units, micro-campuses, and community-hosted delivery sites.
- Modular and stackable credentials that allow learners to progress in shorter blocks, earn certifications more quickly, and return to upskill throughout their careers.
- Expanded integrated work-based learning through deeper, more coordinated partnerships between education providers and industry.
- Pilot projects and innovation labs to test and refine new delivery models, including asynchronous trades theory, expanded dual-credit programming, shared instructor pools, and a centralized navigation tool that more effectively connects learners with employers.
- Coordinated ecosystem governance to create shared mechanisms for regional planning, data sharing, and funding alignment across post-secondary institutions, employers, K-12 systems, and municipalities.
