Class act

A special section dedicated to showcasing automotive trade schools

CARS will regularly feature automotive schools across Canada. In this issue, we learn more about Saskatchewan Polytechnic If you’d like your school featured, reach out to adam@turnkey.media.

Name of school:

City:

Head of program:

Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Lorne Phillips, Darwin Hazell and Todd Schlamp (acting)

Tell us about your school. What do you offer? How many students do you have?

Saskatchewan Polytechnic offers several paths of Automotive Service Technician (AST) training. Sask Polytech offers a 36-week certificate program for students interested in becoming technicians. The school also provides AST apprenticeship training with the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission and apprenticeship training with General Motors Automotive Service Educational Program (ASEP) groups. At the Moose Jaw campus, the institution offers an AST program specifically for international students. Sask Polytech typically provides certificate and apprenticeship training to over 440 learners every year.

Our school also officers manufacture specific training for General Motors and Fait/Chrysler, to give their current technicians the most up-to-date skills.

AST learners are trained by experienced instructors in our well-equipped automotive shops. Learners work on real vehicles donated by local dealers and use industry-leading diagnostic and servicing equipment, including tools unique to specific manufacturers.

What unique experiences are available to students?

Sask Polytech AST learners have the opportunity to see and work on the newest vehicle and service equipment that industry has to offer. This is done through classroom lecture demonstrations and hands-on learning. All campuses have fleets of vehicles that are on loan or have been donated by various manufacturers and dealers. Simulators and dyno-testers are used to enhance the learning experience on all campuses.

How are you preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s automotive service professionals?

Sask Polytech AST learners not only train on current products but are exposed to emerging technologies. EV vehicles, advanced driver assistant systems (ADAS), advanced electronics and vehicle communications are all areas that have been expanded on in our courses.

Why is this an exciting time to be a student in an automotive trade school?

The shift from gasoline power to EV has added a new excitement to the vehicle industry that allows for continuous learning and growth as a technician. The evolution of vehicles over the years continues so this allows the trade to remain interesting with new technologies being introduced.

By The Numbers

10.5% 18%

An analysis of the automotive industry found that the aftermarket saw sales jump despite “somewhat modest growth” to start the year.

$100.84

It cost Canadians nearly 11 per cent more on average to fill up their gas tank as gas prices in 2022 compared to 2021 when it cost an average of $90.90.

96%

Vehicle sit idle for the vast majority of the year despite Canadians paying $5,000 a year to have the vehicle. Turo

39%

Inflation concerns mean many Canadians are less likely to buy or lease a vehicle this year. Monthly payments are the main reason for ending ownership. Turo

12.5

Average age of light vehicles in the United States hit a record high. It’s the sixth straight year that number has gone up.

67% eBay

Many EV drivers still have a gas-powered vehicle in their driveways. They are more likely to use it for longer journeys.

Fewer Baby Boomers are willing to undertake minor car repairs than younger generations. More than a quarter of Millennials and 23% of Gen Zers said they would.

26.46%

The number of out-of-stock products in the global automotive eCommerce market as of late February — a reduction of more than half 10 months prior.