A trip across the country for a New Brunswick student to show off his carpentry skills.
This year, the Skills Canada National Competition was held in Vancouver.
The event consists of people showing off their skills in the trades, whether that be plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, or several others.
NBCC student and apprentice, Jeremy Rodden, competed in the carpentry portion of this year’s event.
Before heading to Vancouver, Rodden competed at the provincial level.
“The school (NBCC) said that there was an opening for the provincial spot, so we had a little class competition to see who would head to the provincial competition,” said Rodden.
After placing first at the provincial event, Rodden was invited and attended the national competition in Vancouver.
“It was a great experience. There was so much to see. We were in the Vancouver Convention Centre, and it’s a huge building, and 40 different trades were being represented, so you could walk around and see what the other participants were doing. It was cool,” mentioned Rodden.
While in Vancouver, Rodden had to build a four-foot by six-foot shed in 12 hours.
“So, we had seven hours the first day and five the next to finish the shed. We took breaks every two hours … and at the end of the competition it ultimately came down to the accuracy of measurements, so the judges went around to see whether our rafters were exactly 36 inches, stuff like that,” he said.
Rodden mentioned if there was a tie-breaker, the person with the most points in the safety category would win.
He placed ninth out of 11 competitors during the carpentry event.
Rodden finished his block one exam a few weeks ago and is currently working for a local Saint John carpentry business.
Rodden added he is hoping to go back to the Skills Canada National Competition next year.