Approximately 2,500 Grade 7 and 8 students from the Grand Erie region attended the 2025 Epic Jobs event at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The sixth annual event was organized by the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, Grand Erie District School Board, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, Workforce Synergy, the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), Organized Kaos, and the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program of both school boards.
Throughout the five-hour job fair, students from across Brantford-Brant, Norfolk County and Haldimand County, had the chance to explore the world of trades and gain hands-on experience in various fields.
“Epic jobs is a career exploration event for Grade 7 and 8 students to learn more about what careers they can have in the skilled trades and how to pursue that through education,” said Sophie Auger, Project Lead for the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie. “Skilled trades are needed throughout Ontario and in Canada, so exposing them to these types of careers when they’re about to go into high school, allows them to choose their courses and an education pathway that leads them into the trades if they’re interested.”
During the event, around 40 exhibitors made up of local companies, unions, associations, post-secondary schools and other organizations related to the trades, as well as other in-demand careers, were all on site and set up throughout the indoor arena space and the Gretzky Centre’s back parking lot.
Conestoga College, Brantford Police Services, GrandBridge Energy, Performance Auto Group, the Ogwehoweh Skills and Trades Training Centre (OSTTC), the Brantford Flight Centre, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 128, Tigercat Industries Inc., and Brantwood Community Services, were just a few of the exhibitors who were there to discuss their areas of expertise.
While some exhibitors handed out swag and information or set up different forms of trivia, many of them came with interactive activities to strengthen student engagement.
Heidi Feldner, a Grade 7/8 teacher from Bellview Public School, said that the event lined up well with their curriculum.
“This is the first time I’ve gotten to bring a class to Epic Jobs and it’s just awesome. We’re in a careers unit right now and so we were able to talk about the trades,” she said. “Getting a hands-on look and feel is so different than just being in a classroom. They get to interact, they get to ask questions and they get to build things here. Having that hands-on experience is such a cognitive piece.”
Jana Jacobs and Anastasiya Sobol, both Grade 8 students from River Heights Public School in Caledonia, said they were both enjoying the event.
“I think this is really a good way to introduce students to more future opportunities,” said Sobol. “It’s also just really fun and I really liked getting to do the police obstacle course and learning about different volunteer options too.”
Jacobs said that while she already knows she wants to be a millwright, the event allowed her to ask more questions.
“I already knew what I was kind of interested in, but it’s been really helpful because I’ve gotten a lot of questions answered,” she said. “I also like that this is so well organized and that it’s been really interactive.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
