One hundred thousand. That is the shortage of tradespeople Canada could be facing by 2029, according to construction experts. To contribute to countering these types of predictions, over the next four years Canerector Foundation is investing in the futures of 100 first-year Centennial College students. The Foundation’s gift of $420,000 in scholarship funding is intended to attract and encourage students to pursue a skilled trades career.
“My daughter, Amanda Hawkins, who runs [the family business] Canerector Inc., knew there is a shortage of skilled trades workers in Canada,” says Susan Hawkins, the president of the Canerector Foundation, which was founded in 2019. “She wanted to give to the trades programs because they don’t receive as much attention as university programs. The skilled trades can provide a very good living for people, and Amanda and I also appreciate that a lot of tradespeople are entrepreneurial.”
Canerector Foundation Scholarship in the Skilled Trades scholars will receive an initial scholarship of $1,000 applied towards their student accounts. What makes Canerector Foundation’s gift unique is that recipients who participate in mentorship and/or co-curricular activities, and maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average, will be awarded additional funds throughout their education. They may receive up to a maximum of $5,000, depending on the program.
“The monetary benefit of the scholarship is what we use to attract people to the field and retain them in the program so they can finish,” says Hawkins. “But also, we hope it shows them that this is a valued career and that people believe in the field they chose and in them.”
The funding, for which Centennial will accept applications starting in early 2023, supports 21 skilled trades programs. This includes: electrical and mechanical engineering technology, automation and robotics technology, electronics engineering technology, energy systems technology, and a wide range of automotive and truck/coach technician programs. Applicants aspiring to be skilled trades workers must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or a protected persons/refugees.
“I encourage companies that are interested in giving to education to look outside of the major universities because the colleges are producing very skilled workers, such as tradespeople, who are valuable to our workforce,” says Hawkins.
The Canerector Foundation is a registered, non-profit Canadian charitable organization founded by the Hawkins family, which owns Canerector Inc. — a group of over 50 companies that design and manufacture industrial products across a wide range of industries. Since its formal establishment in October 2019, the Canerector Foundation has donated more than $3 million to Canadian-based charities that support communities across the country and around the world.
“We launched the Foundation because we wanted to add structure to the philanthropic work my husband and I have been doing, as a couple, for years, and we wanted to involve our family,” says Hawkins. “We initially wanted to focus on causes such as housing, at-risk youth, and healthcare. We then expanded to help pandemic-related causes. As our scope continues to grow, we look forward to getting to know Canada’s school system and to building strong relationships with colleges, so we can expand this type of program to other provinces.”
To learn more about how you can make a gift and support Centennial students, please contact giving@centennialcollege.ca.
By: Izabela Shubair