From The Director's Desk


We’re in the middle of our most challenging CRTC recruitment season ever, and are getting creative in our efforts to reach out to 9th-, 10th- and 11th-grade students throughout our region to educate them about our 40 year tradition of connecting students to their college and career ambitions, and to tell them how to apply. 


Last spring we toured about 1,000 students through our 11 Career Pathway programs during our annual Program Preview Days event. This year, due to COVID restrictions, we were forced to conduct a virtual event where teachers and student ambassadors made use of program videos and laptop cameras to provide remote tours through shops, labs and classrooms, and to talk about the college and career preparation benefits of a CRTC education.


Our goal is to recruit 450 students for next year's classes, and we are working with our nine sending schools to ensure that eligible students are aware of both who we are and how they can connect to get more information and to apply.


You’ll read in this issue how our student Ambassadors have stepped up remotely to talk about their CRTC experience and urge freshmen, sophomores and juniors to check us out. We’ve placed newspaper ads, sent parent and student information postcards and have made use of videos and our social media to forge remote connections with students and their parents. This week we will have our first indication of how effective those efforts have been.  


Friday, February 19, is the early application deadline. Students applying by this date will likely get their first choice of programs. While we will continue to take applications through to the summer, based on space available, most students have their applications in by the first week in March, as popular programs fill up quickly.


Our motto is “Be Prepared to Stand Out,” and we work hard to ensure each of our program completers will graduate with the career-focused knowledge, skills and experience to stand out on their college and employment applications.


You can help us to connect to these students by sharing your CRTC experience on our CRTC Facebook and Friends of the CRTC Facebook pages, and by urging your friends, neighbors and coworkers who have high school aged students to learn more about what we have to offer.

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