The School of Trades and Apprenticeship at the Guelph Campus of Conestoga College hosted the first ever Truck and Coach component of the Ontario Technological Skills event on May 1st, 2007. The event was supported thanks to the generous sponsorship of International Truck and Engine and was supported by the Automotive Transportation Service Superintendents Association Kitchener-Waterloo Branch (ATSSA). Other local businesses that contributed to the success of the event were Timken Bearing, Eaton Truck Components, Ryder Canada , SAF-Holland Equipment, Carrier Truck Centers , and Haldex Limited in partnership with Conestoga College . In a time when the need for a well-educated workforce is increasing, partnerships such as these are the key to effective training and successful educational initiatives.
The skills competition candidates participated in modules in steering and suspension, air and hydraulic brakes, engine, fluid power, electrical, driveline as well as a written test and human resources component. In this demonstration competition, Mark Lebel, a 2nd year apprentice in the Conestoga College Truck & Coach apprenticeship program won a bronze medal. The goal is to have full inclusion of this component in next year's event!
The fall of 2006 marked the official opening of the New Truck and Coach Technician Centre at Guelph Campus. The centre is a major part of an expanded motive power trades area at the campus and involved construction of a new shop space. Motive power education, which now includes three apprenticeship programs - Automotive Service Technician, Heavy Equipment Operator and Truck and Coach Technician, is a specialty of the campus. The new facility promises future opportunities for more diversified and specialized programming, geared to the needs of a growing region that features a large number of automotive, heavy construction and trucking enterprises.
Due to increased demand within the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph area, our new Motive Power Fundamentals- Truck and Coach (Co-op) and Motive Power Fundamentals -Automotive Service (Co-op) will begin in September 2007.
For more information please contact Brenda Gilmore (519) 824-9390 ext. 122 or bgilmore@conestogac.on.ca