(Chinooks Edge School Division/ supplied photo)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Provincial Funding

New welding space open at Olds College for CACI students

Apr 9, 2025 | 4:39 PM

Chinook’s Edge School Division and the Central Alberta Collegiate Institute (CACI) are excited to announce the opening of a new CACI space in the Olds College Metals Building.

Both parties were on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that took place on April 2 that included Alberta Education Minister, Demetrios Nicolaides and CACI partners and students.

“The Collegiate’s focus on the trades is remarkable,” said Nicolaides in a media release. “Career education is important because it offers opportunities for students to find their interests, explore them early on, and have access to a pathway to a rewarding career in the trades.”

Alberta Education gave $4.4 million to renovate the older welding shop space and to add a fourth shop space. This expands not only the number of welding booths available for CACI students, but also provides them with industry quality training equipment.

“When we position provincial and local resources around youth career readiness, we see tremendous results in student confidence, career certainty and overall skill development which allows them to successfully leap immediately into an apprenticeship placement,” said Jackie Taylor, Executive Director of CACI and Community Learning Campus.

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The CACI is made up of four local school divisions including Red Deer Public Schools, Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division, Wolf Creek Public Schools, and Chinook’s Edge School Division.

It also includes two post-secondary institutions such as Olds College and Red Deer Polytechnic, and CAREERS, a not-for-profit organization that collaborates with schools to connect youth with employers for paid apprenticeship opportunities.

Two of the three students at the ceremony are from Chinook’s Edge. Salvador Vermeulen, from Ecole Olds High School, and Logan Swanson from Didsbury High School, as well as a student from Red Deer Catholic, were honoured for their work done at recent Skills Alberta competitions, achieving gold, silver and bronze medals.

“We are very grateful for the focus of youth career development by Alberta Education through the continued support of facilities like this transformation of space at Olds College, as well as their continued support of the programming that we will be able to offer from this location and more like this across the province,” Taylor added. “We are excited to see similar space at Red Deer Polytechnic open in Fall 2025.”

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