John was 27 years old when he arrived at the New West YERC struggling to find a welding apprenticeship. He immigrated from the Philippines less than two years ago. When he first came to Canada, he got a full-time survival job as a housekeeper to support himself financially and he saved up money to further his education. After months of saving, John enrolled in the Welding Level C program at BCIT and had successfully graduated from the program by November 2009.

He met with his Case Manager at the YERC to discuss the challenges he was having being new, not only to Canada, but to the welding industry as well.  His limited Canadian work experience wasn’t related to welding and John was in need of making meaningful connections in his chosen field.  After reviewing his options, John was referred to the Trades Solutions Program at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and was accepted!

Trades Solutions is a free government funded program that can help youth discover how their skills and experience transfer into the more than 130 trades in British Columbia, whether they are an experienced tradesperson or just starting out. The program covers all types of trades: carpenters, plumbers, painters, florists, hairdressers, bus drivers or chefs. John attended about a week of Trades Solutions before following up on a job lead that he got from the program. As of January 2010, John was the successful applicant and is now a full-time Apprentice Welder!