Supporters of powerline program at Cambrian honoured

On Thursday, Cambrian College in Sudbury honoured two longtime supporters of its Powerline Program, which started in 2006.

It's a program with a soaring demand for graduates as Ontario moves towards electrification. Officials said when powerline technicians are learning and training, health and safety is the top priority.

The pole field at Cambrian College where powerline technicians receive hands-on experience has been renamed the Gatien Training Field.

Officials at the college said the Sudbury area family that started the company PowerTel was key in having the program implemented back in 2006 and has been a strong supporter ever since.

"This is probably the biggest boom in the construction of high voltage system since the Second World War," said Dean Gatien, who is on the program advisory committee.

“We are very involved in the safety part of it because it's the core of doing work properly. So the quality of work the execution of work is all worker safety and safe work methods.”

A walkway at the college has been named after the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association. It has safety signage along it.

"In the early days about 100 years ago, there was a 50 per cent fatality rate in this sector and today it's one of the safest,” said Enzo Garritano, president of IHSA.

“So that is the reason we want to continue with the education continue with the training with health and safety ingrained in the training.”

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Officials said Cambrian was the first college in Ontario to provide powerline training and there is a waiting list to get into the program.

Three other schools have now developed similar programs.