Skills for Trades
Empowering neurodivergent learners for careers in skilled trades and building an inclusive, skilled workforce for Canada’s future.
Neurodivergent Individuals Are the Solution to the Current Skilled Labour Shortage
Canada is facing a critical labour shortage in skilled trades, despite a record number of apprentices entering training. Tens of thousands of new skilled trade workers are needed in the coming years to sustain Canada’s infrastructure, manufacturing, and food systems. Without proactive measures, these labour shortages will lead to greater economic strain. Many capable individuals, especially neurodivergent workers and temporary foreign workers with literacy challenges, are falling through the cracks due to a lack of educational support and workplace accommodations.
Skills for Trades addresses this gap by empowering underrepresented learners with practical, individualized support to help them succeed, meeting urgent labour demands in key industries, and building a robust, inclusive workforce.
The Skills for Trades Program
Skills for Trades is a vocationally focused adult education program tailored to apprentices, tradespeople in training, and workers facing job insecurity or advancement challenges due to undiagnosed or unsupported learning differences.
This program is offered in person in East Vancouver and online from anywhere in Canada with scheduling flexibility to reduce barriers and increase access.
Skills for Trades equips individuals with a comprehensive and individualized learning profile based on prescriptive assessments, interventions, mentorship, and assistive technology tools to support them in pre-employment training and trades certification support.
BC Business on Skills for Trades: RISE to Work
BC Business featured LDS’s new Skills for Trades: RISE to Work program and spoke with Executive Director Rachel Forbes about the urgent need for inclusive training pathways in the skilled trades. The program supports neurodivergent adults with personalized, flexible learning to help them succeed in trades careers. With over 100,000 trades jobs opened in BC in the last decade and more on the way, programs like this are key to building a stronger, more diverse workforce.
A sincere thank you to our founding financial and in-kind supporters of this important program.
Skills for Trades: RISE to Work is developed in collaboration with SkilledTradesBC. They are providing time and expertise.
We are also grateful for the support of a local private foundation, and individual philanthropists.
Become a Supporter
Thank you to our generous donors, sponsors and funders who make it possible for us to provide bursaries and affordable programs. If you would like to contribute to our bursary fund, please consider making a monthly or one time donation.
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If you have any further questions about the program, please contact us.