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By rdnewsNOW staff

experiential learning study tour

Representatives from Caribbean countries to visit RDP and Olds College

Aug 14, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Representatives from six Caribbean countries will travel to Olds College and Red Deer Polytechnic this month as part of an experiential learning study tour under the Skills to Access the Green Economy program.

The initiative is meant to learn about Canada’s apprenticeship systems and explore ways to include these practices across the Caribbean.

They’ll visit on Aug. 18 where they’ll be at Olds College from 10 to 11:30 a.m. followed by Red Deer Polytechnic from 2 to 4 p.m.

These are just two of many stops on their tour from Aug. 16 to 23 where they’ll visit Canadian institutions in Manitoba and Alberta including the Building Trades of Alberta, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and Red River College Polytechnic.

“This tour is an essential step in co-designing an apprenticeship model that reflects the unique needs of the Caribbean while drawing on Canadian best practices,” said Pat Bidart, Senior Technical Advisor for SAGE, in a media release. “It’s an opportunity to connect leaders, strengthen partnerships, and lay the foundation for a sustainable apprenticeship framework across the Caribbean region.”

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Those taking part in the tour, which is facilitated by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), with funding support from Global Affairs Canada, included representatives from national training agencies, TVET councils, ministries of education and labour, employers and SAGE country support coordinators.

At each stop the tour will include panel discussions, facility tours, and collaborative action planning to help improve the apprenticeship systems back in their own countries.

This tour includes multiple pilot programs that were successful through the SAGE initiative such as an apprenticeship program in landscaping and turf management in St. Lucia and pre-apprenticeship programs in applied masonry in Jamaica; sustainable mining apprenticeships for women and heavy equipment technician in Guyana; livestock production in Belize, and construction in Dominica and Grenada.