The next welding program being offered at Thompson Rivers University Williams Lake campus will be tuition-free thanks to federal funding. (Thompson Rivers University photo)

So you want to be a welder?

TRU Williams Lake offering tuition-free program

Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Williams Lake is offering a tuition-free welding course offered July 12, 2021 through to March 18, 2022.

“This is an amazing opportunity for the Williams Lake area,” said Alison Mann-Sutherland, continuing studies community co-ordinator at TRU.

There is room for 14 students and priority will be given to applicants ages 16 to 30, women, displaced forestry workers and Indigenous people, but the program is available to everybody, she noted.

While the course is tuition-free, the university is asking people to check with Work BC to see if there is additional funding available for books, helmets, gloves, equipment or clothing needed for the course.

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To apply applicants are asked to fill out a TRU registration form as well as a recent resume and two written paragraphs describing the reason for wanting to participate in the program.

“Once we receive the registrations with transcripts and a resume or a few lines on why they want to take the welding course, we will walk them through the process of any upgrading,” Mann-Sutherland said.

Federally-funded, participants in the program will prepare for entry level positions as apprentice welders in workplaces such as manufacturing, construction, transportation, resource extraction and resource development.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will receive advance credit for Levels 1 and 2 of the technical training component of the welder apprenticeship and 300 hours credit towards the workplace-based training component of their apprenticeships.

Participants will also have the opportunity to take the Canadian Welding Bureau test which will significantly increase their employability.

There will be information sessions May 18, 2021 at 12 p.m. and June 16, 2021 at 4 p.m. through video conference.

For more information call Sutherland Mann at 250-392-8177 or email Weldingwl@tru.ca.

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