Carpenter General - St. Lawrence CollegeCarpentry Education in CanadaCarpentry and Woodworking Programs -- Community College Programs
PROGRAM WEBSITE
Carpenter General - St. Lawrence College St. Lawrence College's 40-week, 3-semester Carpenter General certificate program will equip students with the knowledge and skills to pursue a career, career advancement, or further educational opportunities in the carpentry profession or related fields. The Program's first semester will focus 'on developing hand and power tools skills, the uses of wood and related materials, construction safety, introduction to blueprint reading and trade-related math applications.' The second semester will see the students apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the previous semester 'to residential construction applications, including both framing and finishing.' Furthermore, participants 'will continue to develop their blueprint reading skills, learn to estimate the cost of a project and work in teams to frame a house.' The final semester of the Program will concentrate 'on commercial construction, blueprint reading, stair manufacture, surveying skills and AutoCAD,' and 'students will spend approximately 1/3 of each week in a hands-on carpentry lab setting.' Graduates who graduate the Carpenter General certificate program with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 with at least a GPA of 1.0 'in any reportable subject' will be eligible to receive advanced credits towards an apprenticeship program in carpentry, should they want to pursue the latter. Furthermore 'the General Carpentry Program at St. Lawrence College will be considered as the equivalent to the first year of the Carpentry and Millwork - Heritage Program at Algonquin College. Students who wish to continue the Carpentry training will be required to complete one (1) additional course in the Fall semester at Algonquin. Credits will be awarded from St. Lawrence College.' To be eligible for admission into the Carpenter General certificate program, applicants must possess an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, or equivalent. Career-wise, carpenters are usually employed in various aspects of the construction industry often working on commercial/industrial, maintenance, or residential projects. Some may also pursue jobs in the wood and wood products manufacturing industries. Common employers include construction companies, furniture and cabinet manufacturers, general contractors, and residential and ICI sectors. Some carpenters may prefer to become self-employment and/or establish their own companies. The precise work a carpenter performs on any given project is determined by the specific requirements of that project. Some carpenters, though, specialize in one or a limited number of tasks demanded of their craft. For example, some carpenters may focus on basement cribbing, exterior and/or interior finishing, flooring, form and/or frame construction, or stair construction, among others. Individuals who aspire to advance their careers in carpentry may be interested in pursuing further educational opportunities to refine and enhance their abilities, particularly via an apprenticeship. The latter is a method of learning a trade through a combination of periods of in-class, technical/theoretical education and periods of paid, on-the-job training. During the latter portions of an apprenticeship, the student (apprentice) will work, in an indentured capacity, under the direction of a certified, journeyperson member of the trade one is learning. A journeyperson is an individual who has earned the standards of practice of his/her trade, typically via the completion of an apprenticeship. The advantage of completing an apprenticeship is not only that one acquires in-depth knowledge and skills in a trade but also that, within the latter, one's career opportunities and salary potential are normally increased. Furthermore, once an individual has obtained journeyperson status, he/she may be eligible to have his/her certification as such endorsed by the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program (Red Seal). The latter enables the journeyperson to practice his/her trade throughout Canada, provided the trade is designated in that locale, without undergoing further examinations. Persons who earn journeyperson status may, after obtaining several years of experience beyond an apprenticeship, become educators, supervisors, and/or trainers of their respective trades.
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