With the Canadian Skills Competition having been recently completed last month, and the SkillsUSA Championships coming up in a few weeks, if you are involved in the skilled trades this is an important time for the future of so many industries.

The 16th Canadian Skills Competition took place in Waterloo, Ontario from May 20-23, and saw over 550 competitors showcase their skills in more than 40 events.

It is obvious how important the development of skilled trades is, and the promotion of choosing careers in skilled trades, when you see how involved the Government of Canada is in the process and how much money they are devoting to the cause.

In the U.S., coming up at the end of June, from the 20-25 is the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Taking place during the week is the SkillsUSA Championships, which are billed as “the showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation”.

Last year there were over 5,400 contestants in 91 events. That is a lot of skill being demonstrated.

According to the SkillsUSA website, the “philosophy of the Championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers’ needs.”

These kinds of events are important for promoting the choice of skilled trades as a career, because employers are having a hard time filling these jobs. According to a poll of U.S. employers, skilled and manual trades were the third hardest type of position to fill in 2009.

It looks like those of us that are involved in the skills training sector, especially those at the grassroots level, will all have to keep trying to improve the quality of the tradespersons coming out of training programs, and helping them to maintain their skills throughout their careers!