CACI students and industry leaders field questions about their experience with the program from representatives of the collaboration. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

ENROLLMENT NEARLY DOUBLED

Central Alberta Collegiate Institue shares progress with industry members

Jan 24, 2025 | 4:05 PM

The Central Alberta Collegiate Institute (CACI) announced in an industry update on Jan. 24, that its student enrollment has almost doubled since its first official year of operations in 2023.

CACI is a partnership between Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), Olds College of Agriculture and Technology, CAREERS, and the Chinook’s Edge, Red Deer Public, Red Deer Catholic Regional and Wolf Creek Public school divisions.

The program provides dual credit learning opportunities in skilled trades, with a goal of getting high school students into trade apprenticeships sooner and with the skills to hit the ground running. This includes providing exploration, skill development and career coaching to help students with the transition from school to the work force.

“We can have youth that, when they don’t participate in this type of programming, exit high school with very limited experiences on what it means to be able to work with hand tools, shop environments, safety, employer expectations. All of those pieces of the puzzle aren’t something they’ve had prior experience to,” explained Jackie Taylor, CACI executive director.

She added that in Alberta, the average age for someone to get picked up by the industry and enter their first year of an apprenticeship is 25, a significant gap after graduation. With CACI training, which combines the pillars of school programming, post-secondary programming, industry and student support and career advising, participants are graduating with the experience necessary to attract apprentice sponsorship.

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The creation of the program was, in part, a response to calls from industry leaders to start exposing students to opportunities earlier in their educational experience. A panel of these industry members spoke to the benefits of hiring CACI participants at the presentation, and highlighted concern that the number of journeymen entering the workforce isn’t keeping up with the number leaving or retiring.

Stuart Cullum, RDP president, commented on the collaborative approach to the issue, “We can do more if we work together with our post-secondary partners, with our industry partners and with our school division partners. This is a very beneficial partnership in terms of enhancing our impact and also providing more opportunities for trade students here at Red Deer Polytechnic.”

CACI officially began operating at the start of the 2023-24 school year and saw 190 participants. So far for 2024-25, the program has 350 students. The program is highly competitive and requires participants to perform at their personal academic best, remain focused and meet industry standards of timeliness and professionalism.

Programming currently includes skilled trades exploration and pre-employment training with heavy equipment technician, welding, industrial mechanic and automotive services technician programs for Grade Eight to 12 students.

“I started to realize high school wasn’t something I just had to push my way through: it was something I could now use to farther myself and by doing that, I could get involved in programs that would put me ahead in life,” shared Slade Bales, who graduated from high school in June 2024 and is already in the second year of a heavy equipment technician apprenticeship.

Following presentations from CACI, industry members, and participating students, attendees of the Jan. 24 event took a tour of RDP’s CACI-relevant facilities, which will begin being modernized in March as a part of the CACI partnership. The upgrades should expand RDP’s capacity to offer dual credit and “try a trade” programming.