REGINA (Staff) – Saskatchewan government employment gurus have looked into the future and seen demand for a lot of blowtorches.
“The farm machinery industry is telling us they will require 2,000 welders in the next couple of years,” said education minister Pat Atkinson. “We obviously have to have a capacity to train people for those jobs.”
A number of new programs announced in the recent Saskatchewan budget will train and apprentice students for jobs that employers say need to be filled.
Students will get training and practical experience through a partnership of employers and the province’s colleges and universities, Atkinson said.
The Prairie Malt greenhouse will be one business that uses the new programs, Atkinson said. It needs 10 trained greenhouse workers, so through a link between the greenhouse and the University of Saskatchewan 10 workers will receive horticulturist certificates, she said.
