Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ECE. If the Minister could provide the current enrolment numbers for the different trades programs at Aurora College and break that out by campus? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will just note that the Member, in her statement earlier, she was telling it like it is. She laid out the state of education well, and some of the things we have to do and the challenges we face, and I agree that we do have to have more northern-born trained persons who can do the work that we bring people up from the South for.
Right now, schools across North America have taken a hit, whether it's JK-to-12 or post-secondary, and the North is no exception. There has been, as most people know, no face-to-face or rather limited face-to-face instruction. Despite that, though, I'm happy to say that, in the fall intake, we had 24 apprentices at Aurora College. They were at the Thebacha campus, where the vast majority of apprenticeship training takes place, given the beautiful facilities there. In Electrical Level 1, there were three students; Electrical Level 2, there were seven students; Carpentry Level 1, there were seven students; Carpentry Level 3, five students; and Plumbing Level 1, two students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister somewhat touched on my next question, which is to ask about the effects of COVID on the enrolment in the trades programs, and if the Minister could provide any of the costs associated with either adapting the programs to the distance learning or for having to take more in-person COVID containment methods. I guess what I'm asking, and you may have already answered this, is: Do we have empty classrooms in these campuses?
Before the pandemic, there were some empty classrooms, and that's really why we were embarking on this transformation. We want to make the college the first choice for students not just in the North, but from across Canada. The pandemic obviously emptied out some classes, and we weren't able to have lots of face-to-face. I'm happy to announce that, in the upcoming September session enrolment, we will have face-to-face programming resuming at Aurora College. There are some caveats around that, of course. This was all vetted through the Chief Public Health Officer, who has allowed this, but the classrooms may include up to 20 students participating in class learning, while still continuing to meet the requirements of the Chief Public Health Officer.
I know this is going to be exciting for those students who have had to rely on distance learning, which everyone knows is not ideal, so there is some progress on that end.
I am really glad to hear that. As we all know, doing trades remotely would probably be quite difficult for students, so I'm glad to hear that we're going to be returning back. I look forward to further asking the Minister at a later date what some of those costs are, around the COVID response. My next question I just want to move on to is the new Blue Seal certification program that the department is rolling out. I have some understanding of that, but I would like to know if the Minister could speak a bit more to how that differs from the Red Seal program and maybe provide a bit of a timeline for its implementation and availability.
The Red Seal is governed under the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program, and that is a common set of standards across Canada. So, if you are a Red Seal in one province, your skills are comparable to a Red Seal in another province. We don't quite have that yet with Blue Seal, but what Blue Seal is building on is the Red Seal. It is a program whereby people who have earned their Red Seal can take additional courses in business and earn a Blue Seal. This is to really build up the workforce and allow perhaps journeypersons who want to rise up to management in companies or help them become entrepreneurs. We have Blue Seal certificates available in Alberta, in Saskatchewan; the East Coast has a similar type of program. I think, a lot of times, all you need is that idea that, "Oh, I can get this certification. I just have to take these courses," and that might prompt people to go. So I think, for really no cost to us, it's a good way to help build up the workforce.
I can't really speak to timelines right now. The bill that would allow this is in front of committee, but I hope to see this happen in the near future.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just before I ask my last question, I wanted to apologize to the translators. I know I've got to get back into speaking a lot slower. My last question has to do with, again, something really close to my heart. Could the Minister provide an update on any programming or initiatives they are implementing to increase the number of women in trades? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the question. We need more people in general in trades, but especially women in trades. I think the number of women in trades is around 5 to 7 percent of the entire profession, which is quite low, obviously. The department has recognized this, and in addition to getting out and promoting trades to everyone, there is also a renewed focus on promoting it to women and young women in schools. What we are going to be rolling out in the new year is a new visual and media campaign to promote women in trades. There is going to be promotion via the radio, newspapers, and social media. There is development of materials for grade 9 to 12 high school students that the career and education advisors will share with students. There are new materials for career development officers to promote with residents, and there is going to be increased profile and promotion of girls in trades through the annual Take a Kid to Work Day. We really need to promote this for everyone, and I really appreciate the Member and all the Members who bring this up, because a number of Members have brought up the need for more women in trades. The more that we all promote this, I think, the more that we can help this cause. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
