Winnipeg will play host to the 2017 Skills Canada National Competition, Jobs and the Economy Minister Kevin Chief announced today.

The event — for which Red River College will serve as one of several partners — is scheduled to take place from May 31 to June 3, 2017, at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg.

The competition is expected to attract more than 18,000 visitors and 500 youth participants — the latter group comprised of students and apprentices enrolled in trades training programs in colleges and high schools across Canada.

“Hosting the Skills Canada competition will mean thousands of Canadians will travel to the city to share their talents and see what Manitoba has to offer,” said Chief (kneeling in above photo), who stopped by RRC today to take part in the College’s annual Engineering Technology Student Pep Rally.

“We’re proud that our government has supported youth in the trades by offering them educational opportunities, financial support and a strong economy that offers people entering the trades a world of options.”

As always, the goal of the event is to promote the skilled trades and reinforce their importance in building a strong provincial economy — a mission RRC has for years shared with Skills Canada’s provincial arm.

“[The College] has been the host site for the annual Skills Canada Manitoba competition and we are very excited to be part of the 2017 Skills Canada National Competition coming to Winnipeg,” said RRC President Paul Vogt.

“We applaud the government of Manitoba on making skilled trades and technology a priority, and on their investment in our new state-of-the-art Skilled Trades and Technology Centre (STTC), currently under construction at the Notre Dame campus.”