Foundation Career College
When you bite into a plump blueberry, bursting with the flavour and sweetness, or a mango, so jam-packed with taste that juice dribbles down your chin, do you stop to think about how those fruits wound up on your kitchen table?
When you envelop your body with the warm, cozy hug of a new cashmere sweater, or step onto the pavement in the dewy morning glow in a pair of bouncy new sneakers, do you ever wonder how your name brand clothing arrived from abroad?
You’ve heard about all the innovative and unique products being produced in our province. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle. What about the journey those products must take to leave the province?
Think of the transport industry as an economic enabler. Without it, we wouldn’t have fruits, vegetables and name brand clothing; we wouldn’t be able to sell our home-grown and home-made goods to foreign buyers.
Ninety per cent of goods enter Nova Scotia by truck; 85 per cent of products made here leave by truck. So the trucking industry is key to Nova Scotia’s success.
Good thing we have a lot of trained and dedicated drivers to support those massive numbers.
That, in large part, can be credited to Foundation Career College – a private career college in Dartmouth that provides training for the transportation industry. More specifically, it’s a college that provides training and certification in Class 1 and Class 3 licensing.
But the economy is not the only thing Foundation Career College supports around here.
Picture the transport industry clad in spandex tights, a face mask and a billowing cape. Together, the transport industry and Foundation Career College are a force to be reckoned with – a fierce superhero – when it comes to outmigration.
As Bryan Thorne, general manager of Foundation Career College explains: “the transportation industry is the largest employer in Canada of males between the ages 19 to 25.”
Moreover, Foundation Career College provides opportunities for our children and grandchildren to stay here in Nova Scotia and enjoy a rewarding career in the transport industry.
“Foundation Career College is a family business that started in 1995 with one purpose in mind,” explains Thorne. “To keep Nova Scotians at home.
“The family who started the business saw a huge opportunity for Nova Scotians to enter into the transport industry and, thereby, not leave the province to head out west or elsewhere for work.”
Indeed, there are opportunities here in Nova Scotia for anyone interested in the transportation industry. So much opportunity, in fact, those vacancies cannot be filled.
So, who exactly is interested in the transportation industry?
Thorne says his students fall into three categories.
“The first category consists of people who have always wanted to enter into the transportation industry, since the time they were playing with toy tucks as a child,” he explains. “They’re usually in the 19 to 25 age group.
“The second category of students includes people who are going through a career change. Perhaps they’ve been laid off; maybe they’re getting bored with their chosen career; or maybe they’re looking for a rewarding job that will keep them here in Nova Scotia,” he says. “They usually fit into the 40 to 55 age group.
“The third category of students – the smallest group – comes from the transportation industry itself,” says Thorne. “They’re already knee-deep in the industry, but they may be moving into a new position or upgrading their qualifications.”
It sounds impressive. But the fact is Foundation Career College isn’t turning out enough students to fill the need for professional drivers in the province.
In fact, they’re turning out fewer local students than ever before, and they have to recruit internationally to fill the vacancies.
“Trades in general are suffering, and the transportation industry is no exception,” says Thorne. “People are turning to transportation less and less.
“Another challenge is that people do not understand what a professional driver does. There’s a certain stigma attached to it,” he explains. “But our students quickly discover otherwise; it’s a professional and rewarding career path.”
Moreover, bet you didn’t know that people in the transportation industry earn $20,000 more than the average Nova Scotian.
Thorne believes Foundation Career College has its work cut out for it, not just in recruiting students to keep up with the demand for professional drivers, but also in re-educating Nova Scotians about the transportation industry and the driving profession.
The College also has its sights set on growth.
Thorne explains, “We’re looking toward two areas of growth.
“The first is to attract more people to Nova Scotia. We’re raising the profile of the transportation industry here and abroad, and looking more to immigrants to fill the demand.
“The second area of growth involves expanding our service offering. That is, to offer more types of training than we’re currently teaching.”
Thorne notes that it’s necessary to recruit abroad and look to immigration to fill all the vacancies that exist in Nova Scotia’s transportation careers. But he wishes it didn’t have to be that way.
“We’ll always remain committed to keeping Nova Scotians at home,” he says.
“It’s imperative to get the message out there to Nova Scotians,” Thorne adds. “You don’t have to leave the province to find work and rewarding opportunities. They exist right here at home.”
Thorne believes Foundation Career College’s commitment to keeping Nova Scotians here at home should become everyone’s responsibility.
Next time you sit at your breakfast table wrapped in your cozy cashmere sweater, enjoying a bowl of exotic fruit (brought to you, in part, by the transportation industry and Foundation Career College), ponder this:
“Part of our role as educators and employers is to equip our youth (and everyone else, for that matter) with the skills to remain here at home. We have a responsibility to build and maintain a lifestyle that Nova Scotians can continue to enjoy for many generations.”
-Bryan Thorne, manager, Foundation Career College.
