Saskatchewan students will have more opportunities to get involved with the power industry as SaskPower and the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Corporation (DLC) are teaming up for online courses.
Those focus on 5th and 4th class power engineering, with the classes previously offered by SaskPower but now going through the DLC program.
SaskPower Spokesperson Joel Cherry talks about what the classes bring to Saskatchewan students.
"The 5th class course is a good introduction to power engineering and maybe gives students an idea if it's something they're interested in pursuing as a career, and the 4th class certification, which students can get, is more for students who are looking to potentially undertake this as a career."
Cherry says that power engineering is very important for SaskPower which is why they want students interested in the field.
"Power engineering is a crucial profession for SaskPower. We have hundreds of power engineers on staff. They operate boilers and other equipment that we need to make sure that we have reliable supply power for our customers. What's new this year is that we've signed an agreement with DLC to provide work-study options for students in the program to actually get some hands-on real-world experience and also provide some scholarships for students who are finishing up the top of their class."
Students can learn more about the field through a hands-on section of the course which sees SaskPower visit the schools.
"One of the things that we have is our portable steam trailer that allows students to get experience operating the sorts of boilers that they would be expected to use in the workforce. When there's work placements as well that gives students an opportunity, to get some hands on experience," said Cherry, "We've had it down in Estevan actually a number of times at our plants there and today it's at the Queen Elizabeth Power Station in Saskatoon, but it can move around to help accommodate students."
Cherry says that SaskPower has seen good uptake in the program when running it alone and hopes that their partnership with SaskDLC helps spread that more.
"The program has been around since I believe 2014, so the program itself has been around for a while. We've had close to 500 students go through the two classes. So 327 students have completed 4th class power engineering and 141 have completed the 5th class."
"We've seen good uptake over the years. Again, what's new this year is that we've signed this agreement that's going to help provide more opportunities for work, study, and scholarship."
"We encourage any students who are interested in potentially pursuing power engineering as a career. You know, we have a long history in Estevan and we've got our plants there and certainly any young people who are interested in potentially pursuing power engineering professionally are encouraged. We wish to look into this course and we wish them the best of luck.