Adopt a Shop
Adopt a Shop continues to strengthen connections between industry and skilled trades classrooms throughout the Calgary region.
In its pilot year, the program supported 14 shops, 18 educators and more than 2,600 students through partnerships between employers and schools. While financial support remains an important component of the initiative, the greatest impact continues to come through meaningful industry engagement with students and teachers.
Throughout the 2025/2026 academic year, participating employers provided classroom demonstrations, guest speaking opportunities, mentorship, and hands-on learning experiences. Students were given opportunities to learn directly from industry professionals while gaining exposure to real-world construction careers and workplace expectations.
Examples of engagement have included hands-on demonstrations such as taping and mudding, career presentations, equipment demonstrations, and discussions about apprenticeship and employment pathways.
Professional development opportunities for teachers have also emerged as a key component of the program. Industry partners have worked alongside educators to strengthen technical knowledge, share current industry practices, and support classroom programming.
Building on the success of the pilot year, strong early results, and lessons learned through implementation, Year 2 expansion is now underway. The goal is to engage more than 25 industry partners, reach over 5,000 students across additional schools, and raise more than $120,000 to support program growth and enhanced student engagement opportunities.
Honour The Work
Honour The Work continues to expand its reach and remains one of the largest industry-supported elementary career awareness initiatives in Calgary.
As of June 2026, the program has reached over 1,500 classrooms across three school divisions. Collectively, nearly 45,000 students now have access to Honour the Work programming.
In June, the CCA celebrated the launch of HTW in Rocky View Schools with a media event that highlighted the strength of the partnership and the growing demand for early career awareness programming.
Interest continues to grow among school jurisdictions seeking to introduce career awareness concepts earlier in the K-12 journey. In response to this growing demand, we are actively pursuing provincial funding opportunities to sustain and build on the momentum we have established, ensuring this work can continue to expand and deliver impact.
Teacher & Trades Tour
The 2026 Teacher & Trades Tour provided educators with direct exposure to modern construction careers, training pathways, and workplace environments.
Through visits to construction sites, fabrication facilities, and trade shops, educators gained first-hand insight into the opportunities available within Alberta's construction industry and developed stronger connections with industry partners.
The tour continues to help bridge the gap between education and industry by equipping teachers with current workforce knowledge they can bring back into their classrooms.
Participant feedback highlighted the value of seeing active workplaces, speaking directly with employers, and gaining a deeper understanding of apprenticeship and career pathways available to students.
Educators consistently identified the opportunity to connect classroom learning to real-world careers as one of the most valuable aspects of the tour.
"It was a long but excellent day of learning. The barriers that we normally experience are with parent expectations. If these conversations were happening prior to high school, it could potentially increase attainable pathways for some students in the trades, especially when families have limited understanding of trade careers."
"I really liked learning about the entry-level jobs that can move into RAP with the right student."
"It was a great day and I loved having a chance to visit different sites and hear from
One participant also noted that seeing the pride industry professionals take in mentoring apprentices left a lasting impression, highlighting "the pride shown by the tradespeople wanting to leave a legacy by having apprentices."
As the program enters its third year, feedback continues to reinforce the importance of creating opportunities for educators to experience industry firsthand and better understand the diverse career pathways available to students.
Tailgate Toolkit
Tailgate Toolkit continues to grow as a leading workforce wellness and psychological safety initiative supporting workers across skilled trades, transportation, manufacturing, and other industry sectors throughout the Calgary region.
During the first half of 2026:
73 Tailgate Talks were delivered
Over 2,000 workers, students, educators, and industry stakeholders were reached through presentations, workshops, events, and guest speaking opportunities.
Development began on a new leadership training stream focused on strengthening frontline leadership skills and workplace culture.
Partnership planning commenced with SAIT to integrate Tailgate Toolkit presentations and workforce wellness discussions into apprentice training programs, creating opportunities to engage up to 5,000 apprentices annually
Ongoing engagement with Headversity continues to support workforce resilience and mental health awareness across the industry.
In addition to workplace delivery, the program has maintained a strong presence at conferences, industry events, educational institutions, and workforce development discussions, increasing awareness and adoption throughout the sector.
Skills Alberta Support
The Education Fund provided $15,000 to support Calgary school boards participating in Skills Alberta programming, helping reduce barriers to participation and expand access to skilled trades and technologies experiences for students.
Funding supported transportation costs for Calgary students travelling to Skills Alberta competition in Edmonton, ensuring students could participate regardless of location. It also enabled Calgary school boards to bring additional students so they could observe competitions, learn about skilled trades and technologies, and explore potential career pathways.
Through these experiences, both competitors and attending students were able to engage with skilled trades programming, explore career opportunities, connect with the broader skilled trades community, and gain greater awareness of the pathways available through apprenticeship and technical careers.
Congratulations to all Calgary-area students who competed at Skills this year, including two students from Adopt a Shop-supported classrooms who represented Alberta at Skills Canada and achieved Silver Medal and 4th Place finishes!
Calgary Catholic School District Skilled Trades Fair
Over 150 Grade 4-6 students participated in the Calgary Catholic School District Skilled Trades Fair at St. Thomas More School. Students engaged directly with industry professionals and participated in hands-on activities that introduced them to a variety of skilled trades and industry careers, including:
Flooring Sheet Metal Plumbing
Electrical Carpentry Interior Design HVAC
The event provided an opportunity to build career awareness at an early age while helping students better understand the diverse opportunities available within construction and related industries. Each student also earned a Junior Red Seal Certificate, recognizing their participation and early exploration of skilled trades careers.
The success of the fair reflects the strong partnership CCA and the Calgary Catholic School District, as well as the district’s ongoing commitment to the adoption of Honour The Work, and to creating real impact through meaningful career exploration.
Building on this momentum, plans are underway to expand the event in the next school year by moving to an off-site venue, inviting additional schools to participate, increasing the number of trades and interactive activities represented, and creating stronger connections between the event experience and classroom learning.
Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society Ambassador Aviary Project
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (CWRS) Ambassador Aviary Project is an exciting new partnership between CWRS, Fusion Collegiate, and CCA members and industry partners who are helping bring the vision to life.
Currently in the early planning stages, the project will see students, educators, wildlife professionals, and industry representatives collaborate on the design and construction of new ambassador aviaries that will support CWRS's education and rehabilitation programs.
Industry response has been overwhelmingly positive, with partners already contributing ideas, technical expertise, planning support, and exploring opportunities for student involvement. The project is creating meaningful connections between education and industry while demonstrating how skilled trades, construction, and community organizations can work together toward a shared goal.
As planning progresses, the Ambassador Aviary Project will provide students with opportunities to engage in authentic, real-world learning while contributing to a lasting community asset that supports wildlife education across the region.
Project planning and partner engagement will continue throughout the second half of 2026.
Calgary City Teachers' Convention
The CCA exhibited at Calgary City Teachers’ Convention to increase educator awareness of construction career pathways and provide information to support career exploration discussions with students.
With more than 12,000 educators registered, the event offered an opportunity to connect with a large audience that regularly influences student decisions about post-secondary education and employment.
CCA’s exhibit highlighted the wide range of careers involved in designing, building, and maintaining the built environment. A key feature was a 20-foot Career Wall showcasing opportunities in project management, engineering, skilled trades, technology, safety, sustainability, and business operations across the building lifecycle.
Educators were introduced to classroom resources and career exploration tools, including a student activity book, career pathway information, and resources designed to showcase the wide range of careers, education pathways, apprenticeship opportunities, and professional roles available throughout the construction industry.
The exhibit was strengthened by industry partners, post-secondary institutions, apprenticeship organizations, and workforce stakeholders who shared career experiences and training information, helping educators better understand the many pathways available to students.
Participation in Teachers’ Convention continues to be an effective way to raise awareness of construction careers, build relationships with educators, and support informed career conversations with students.
Youth Employment Strategies & System Development
Throughout the first half of 2026, significant effort was dedicated to advancing discussions around youth employment pathways and workforce system alignment across the Calgary region.
Building on feedback from employers, educators, workforce organizations, and government stakeholders, the CCA is playing an active role in convening conversations focused on creating a more coordinated approach to youth employment within the construction industry. While awareness of construction careers continues to grow, gaps remain between student interest and workforce readiness. Employers continue to identify challenges finding young workers who are prepared for the realities of the jobsite, while students often struggle to navigate the transition from classroom learning into meaningful employment opportunities. This work is focused on creating clearer, more connected pathways between career awareness, employment readiness, workforce entry, and long-term career progression.
These discussions have focused on reducing barriers for employers, improving navigation of existing programs and supports, and strengthening the transition from career awareness, employment readiness and classroom learning into meaningful employment opportunities.
Key areas of exploration have included:
Improved alignment between industry, education, and workforce development organizations.
Greater awareness and utilization of existing youth employment supports, including wage subsidies, WCB coverage, training supports, and wraparound services.
Development of clearer pathways connecting career awareness, work-integrated learning, apprenticeship, and long-term workforce participation.
Enhanced collaboration between organizations supporting youth employment, career exploration, training, and workforce retention.
Opportunities to better connect employers with available workforce development resources and funding programs.
CCA has also continued to participate in regional and provincial discussions focused on workforce planning, labour market needs, and emerging opportunities to strengthen youth employment outcomes within Calgary and Alberta's construction sector.
This work reflects a growing recognition that workforce development requires a coordinated continuum of support, beginning with career awareness in elementary school and extending through employment, apprenticeship, and long-term career progression.
Industry Leadership & Engagement
Workforce Strategies continued to contribute to provincial workforce discussions and sector leadership opportunities.
Highlights included:
Participation in workforce advisory discussions.
Presentations and engagement opportunities with industry and education stakeholders.
Participation in the 2026 Trades and Technologies Summit, including a keynote panel discussion and a joint presentation with Rocky View Schools highlighting the Honour the Work partnership and the division's Career Learning Practice Guide.
Ongoing collaboration with workforce partners, school divisions, post-secondary institutions, and industry leaders to identify opportunities to strengthen workforce pathways.
These engagements continue to position the Calgary Construction Association as a trusted leader in workforce development and industry-education collaboration.
Looking Ahead
Key priorities for the remainder of 2026 include:
Expansion of Adopt a Shop to additional schools.
Continued growth of Honour the Work throughout Alberta.
Launch of Tailgate Toolkit leadership training.
Delivery of Tailgate Toolkit programming to SAIT apprentices.
Expansion of workforce awareness resources and communications.
Increased employer engagement opportunities.
Completion of the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society Ambassador Aviary Project.
Continued participation in regional workforce development discussions and partnerships.
Together, these initiatives will continue to strengthen workforce awareness, support industry talent development, and build stronger connections between education and construction across Alberta.