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“We have an 80 per cent success rate with our students earning jobs in the trade and moving forward in their occupation.”
Winnipeg Industrial Skills Training Centre is a nonprofit welding and metal fabrication learning centre. As of October 2025, the organization will have been active for 43 years, providing trade training to Manitobans who are either underemployed, part of an unstable occupation, doing seasonal work, or experiencing chronic layoffs.
They also train newcomers with lower English levels who are doing their best to forge ahead while making their home in Canada.
“We take those individuals in, provide trade training, and then jobs at the end of it,” says general manager Scot Taylor. “That is the main goal -- everything we do is geared towards that actual successful outcome at the end -- that permanent, stable occupation in a trade. Not just a job, but a career.”
Canada can be a very hard place to settle into, Taylor adds, noting that a lot of newcomers have great work experience in their home country that may not translate to the Canadian workforce. Learning a new language adds another layer of stress to new arrivals, especially those who are here not by choice, but due to an emergency move.
“The task of coming to a new country, a new culture, a new language, trying to figure out where everything is, how things are done, and have a way to support their families and really rebuild a life here is overwhelming. And so we want to provide that support to people who essentially need it the most.”
Taylor has been with WISTC for nine years now. With a nonprofit and social services background, he had no trade skills, but that deficit did not last. A self-proclaimed late bloomer, Taylor learned the trade, and says he enjoys being part of a company that figured out their personal type of success long before he arrived.
Winnipeg Industrial Skills Training Centre offers two distinct 24-week programs. There’s the MAC Program, aimed at Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and individuals with a Canadian Language Benchmark above five, and the REDI Program for newcomers, refugees, permanent residents, or Canadian citizens with a Canadian Language Benchmark of four or less. Students receive training in both industrial metal fabrication and industrial welding, with additional instruction on topics such as shop safety, trade-related mathematics, reading blueprints, and WHMIS.
“We actually put out more people into the metal trade in Manitoba per year than any other entity in Manitoba,” Taylor states. “The way we do our program, we treat it as much as possible like a job simulator. We have the same expectations that employers will have- we want people to feel what it's like to be in industry.”
The program is highly practical, where most of the class time is spent in hands-on work.
“Our students, they're not just doing practice welds in a booth all day long- they're building real products. Everyone can learn theory as they go- what we want is to make sure people have the skills to break into the trade.”
Taylor points to the organization’s amazing customer base as one of the reasons for their success.
“We actually do real jobs at the Training Centre. For real customers. It’s sort of like saving money on a haircut by going to a barber school,” he jokes. “Kind of the same deal here. Most of our customers are companies, warehouses, entities that need special equipment, special racking, special carts. We’ve done some cool things, too- we did a steel cage for a wrestling company not too long ago.”
The company is in near constant contact with employers. Rather than sharing a job posting, companies will regularly turn to WISTC directly when looking for new employees. Feedback from employers includes that their graduates have higher skill levels than other new graduates from other training centers, are more reliable, more independent, and generally work better as part of a team.
“We eliminate a lot of the risk of onboarding for companies because we give employers a very honest assessment of who they’re hiring, helping to match the right student for the right job. We’ve established a high level of trust amongst employers in the industry, so they feel much safer coming to us for their hiring needs.”
Whether you’re a prospective employer or an interested student, find Winnipeg Industrial Skills Training Centre at 903 King Edward in Winnipeg, or start the application process at www.wistc.ca.