Team P.E.I. brought home five medals from the 25th Skills Canada National Competition held recently in Halifax.
The Skills Canada P.E.I. team consisted of 43 students and apprentices.
Daniel Grant, an apprentice at Pitre Plumbing and Heating in the plumbing competition, and Brett MacKay, an apprentice at Standard Aero, earned a gold medal in precision machining.
Kaylee Boates, a student in Holland College’s video game art and animation program, earned a silver medal in 3D digital game art.
Ty Markland won a bronze medal in electronics and Chelsea MacRae took bronze in IT software solutions.
Along with five national medals, Skills Canada P.E.I. will be represented on Team Canada at the WorldSkills International competition, taking place in Kazan, Russia, in August.
Justin Buchanan, a graduate of Holland College’s video game art and animation program, and Robbie McMahon, a graduate of the college’s industrial electrical technology program were successful in their run-off competitions, which were held in conjunction with the national competition in Halifax.
Both men have worked tirelessly over the past year to earn the honour of representing Canada on the world stage.
Over its 50-year history, the World Skills Competition has come to symbolize the pinnacle of excellence in vocational training.
Every two years, hundreds of young skilled people gather together from around the world to compete before the public in the skills of their various trades and test themselves against demanding international standards.
They represent the best of their peers drawn from regional and national skills competitions held in over 75 WorldSkills Member countries and regions.
Buchanan and McMahon will spend the next 10 weeks preparing to compete at the WorldSkills stage.
Each year Skills Canada P.E.I. organizes provincial competitions in 40 areas of trades and technology competitions.
The winners of these competitions form the P.E.I. delegation for the national event.
The 2020 National Skills Competition takes place in May 2020 in Vancouver.
