Team Canada gears up for WorldSkills London 2011

Thirty-four of Canada’s most skilled young people are getting ready to compete in the largest international vocational skills competition in the world – the 41st WorldSkills Competition. Taking place in London, U.K., from October 5-8, youth from across the globe will meet at the ExCeL exhibition and conference centre to compete in categories ranging from aircraft maintenance, electronics and mobile robotics, to cooking, carpentry and landscape gardening.

WorldSkills is a biennial event that brings together hundreds of young skilled people, their teachers and trainers, from around the world to compete in the skills of their various trades and test themselves against demanding international standards. Competitors represent the best of their peers drawn from regional and national skills competitions held in 52 countries/regions.

Team Canada includes 34 young people, ages 16 to 21, from across the country. Among them:

• Adrian Schut, a 16-year-old high school student from Almonte, Ont., will compete in the Mobile Robotics category. Joining him is 16-year-old Benjamin Church, also from Almonte, Ont.

• Kamloops, B.C.’s Daniel Hall, 19, is competing for Canada in the Electronics category. He is currently a student at Thompson Rivers University.

• Gabriel Thérien, a 21-year-old college student from Brossard, Que., is competing in the Mechatronics category. Also competing in the Mechatronics category is 21-year-old college student, Thierry Lecours, from Repentigny, Que.

• Michael Demers, a 19-year-old Cégep de Victoriaville student from Saint-Valere, Que., is competing in the area of Industrial Control.

• Ryan Gomes, a 21-year-old Centennial College student from Cambridge, Ont., will compete for Canada in the Aircraft Mechanics category. He holds the title of gold-medalist from the 2009 Skills Canada National Competition.

Click here for the complete list of Team Canada competitors.

The last WorldSkills Competition, in 2009, took place in Calgary, Alta. Click here to take a look at our coverage from that event. 

For more information on WorldSkills London 2011, visit www.worldskills.org.