The programming will build on other recent Building Healthy Trades initiatives but with more focus on pain and stress management for the students. It is being funded by Island Health’s 2024 Resilience & Safety Grant, worth $50,000. NIC’s Student Life department is one of 22 recipients of the grant.
“North Island College’s Faculty of Trades and Technical programs is grateful to Island Health for supporting Healthy Trades initiatives for 2024-2025. The Island Health funding is dedicated to student-centred supports and services to advance a culture of awareness and deliberate care while future trades professionals develop effective strategies for personal and professional success,” said Cheryl O’Connell, NIC dean of trades & technology.
The work this fall that the grant supports will focus on giving students a better understanding of how to handle and alleviate stress or physical pain. Key aims of the project include hosting education sessions that teach healthy and effective strategies for managing pain and stress; subsidized access to community fitness centres, pools and sports activities; and on-campus access to pain and stress management supports.
In the midst of a provincial toxic drug epidemic, workers in the trades can be vulnerable both to work-related injuries that need pain management as well as stress from time and other demands that do not always make seeking treatment easy.
“As the toxic drug crisis continues to deeply affect communities in our region and beyond, providing people with the tools to safely manage workplace injuries and stressors is imperative to reduce harms and save lives,” said Julie Lajeunesse, Island Health executive director, Addiction Medicine and Substance Use. “North Island College is delivering important training to future trades workers, and Island Health is proud to provide support through grant funding for the Building Healthy Trades initiatives.”
During their training, trades students can face long days as well as having to absorb a lot of material, which can add to stress. Sierra Gale, the Student Life and Outreach liaison for Healthy Trades, has been working with trades students the past year on Building Healthy Trades initiatives—work that includes wellness events, classroom visits, leadership training and drop-in opportunities for trades-specific support.
“We use this to build a healthy relationship with students so they can see that they can seek help,” she said.
So far, initiatives have included information-sharing about mental health issues, building relationships with students and meetings on each campus about the culture of the trades, even social events—not always easy for trades students who typically are on different schedules for being on campus.
“A trades holiday social event was organized by our Trades Leaders (student employees in the Trades) as a way to enhance trades student life, and cross-trade relationships,” Gale said.
For students in the trades, especially those in apprenticeship programs, they might be getting their education over a few years but are usually on campus for short stretches—weeks rather than months at a time—which provides another challenge in terms of making sure they are aware of and access support.
“While apprenticeship training in class and on the job can be demanding, the Healthy Trades initiative is intended to promote mental health and wellness in the sector through support and education that recognizes trades-specific challenges,” Gale said.
Any trades student interested in the program can contact healthytrades@nic.bc.ca.
