Pre-apprentice program for metalworking wins award

A program organized by the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association to direct students into the precision metal working trades will receive honors from the Yves Landry Foundation later this year.
The Foundation’s awards recognize individuals and businesses that exemplify the vision of the late Yves Landry, former chairman, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada. Landry strongly believed in forging links between business, education and government, and promoting technical education and skills training.
The CTMA program, called Molding Youth for Industry, is a joint venture with Human Resources Development Canada. The pre-apprenticeship training program provides 20 weeks of classroom/machine shop instruction, followed by 20 weeks of industrial work experience. After the 40-week program, successful students may be registered as apprentices in a related field.
CTMA president Les Payne will accept the award at a ceremony in November.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. of Cambridge, ON, also received an award from the Foundation as Company of the Year. ATS develops automation systems and produces high-tech plastic assemblies. ATS started an apprenticeship training program in 1981, and has continued to hire and train apprentices. Since 1998, 142 apprentices have trained at ATS’s facilities in Cambridge.