Ten graduate apprentices from across Canada received recognition at an awards banquet held August 19 during the 2015 Boilermaker Industry Tripartite Conference at Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The apprentices were selected by their lodge leaders and training coordinators based on their technical skills, job performance, leadership and other qualities. They included: Davis Boucher, Local 73, New Brunswick; Dylan MacIntyre, Local 73, Nova Scotia; Joel Baker, Local 128, Ontario; Timothy Chibi and Alida Nourry, Local 146, Alberta; Kathleen Pike, Local 203, Newfoundland and Labrador; James Ross, Local 271, Quebec; Dylan Cunliffe, Local 359 British Columbia; Ed Friesen, Local 555, Manitoba; and Brock Overs, Local 555, Saskatchewan.

Grant Jacobs, Director of National Training, addressed about 200 Boilermakers, family members and guests at the event. Jacobs acknowledged the Boilermaker Contractor Association of Canada, trustees of the National Training Trust, and local lodge training coordinators and college instructors.

Andy Holder, a former Local 128 (Toronto) business representative, received recognition as the 2015 industry award recipient. Holder served for 30 years as a trustee of the Apprenticeship & Training Committee. He was cited for his involvement in key initiatives developed by the committee, such as requiring all local lodges to have training facilities and welding instructors, promoting women in the trades and establishing mandatory training for occupational diseases and hazards related to the boilermaker industry.