March 15, 2025
CHASE BAKER IS JUST ABOUT to turn 18. And while he doesn’t have his entire career mapped out just yet, he’s moving full speed ahead in the pipefitting industry thanks to a try-a-trade program he took this past summer on the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN).
Baker wasn’t interested in going to post-secondary after high school. He was more interested in sticking close to home in his community of Eslha7án̓ (Mission Reserve) in North Vancouver. But his parents had another idea. They wanted him to do something productive over the summer.
“I didn’t want to be in a classroom for hours a day. I wanted to work with my hands and do something that was important to me. I wanted to work. I didn’t just want to sit around,” said Baker. “My auntie Anita mentioned that she had a summer program that she could get me into. I thought I might as well try it.”
Anita Thomas is the employment and training manager for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Skills Centre and a close family friend of the Bakers who are members of Squamish Nation. Leslie Yellowknee, special projects coordinator and Indigenous relations for the UA Piping Industry College of BC (UAPIC BC), approached Thomas with the idea of offering a Trades Awareness Program (TAP) to the community.
“But Tsleil-Waututh is such a small nation,” said Thomas. “So, I asked him if he could open it up to everyone.”
Yellowknee agreed and seven students soon signed up for the program including Baker.
“TAPS gives people the opportunity to try a trade prior to investing time and energy,” said Yellowknee. “We run it right in the community for convenience. Not everyone has a driver’s license to get around.”
The tuition-free program ran for four weeks in July 2024. Students got to build a mini house and learn from painters, electricians and plumbers. Baker was most drawn to steamfitting and pipefitting and was offered a job on the spot as a plumbing apprentice by Modern Niagra, a mechanical and plumbing contractor, after touring one of its offices.
Rather than working right away, Baker chose to continue his education and is currently enrolled in a 21-week Piping Foundations program at the UAPIC BC.
“I wanted to be a little more familiar with the tools and how to form stuff together and be more technically sound before being on site,” said Baker. “I think more education will give me a better foundation and make me a better tradesperson.”
Modern Niagra is willing to wait. The job offer is still on the table for when Baker completes his foundations program in February 2025.
The TWN Skills Centre is supporting Baker with a living allowance while he attends school and UAPIC BC is paying his tuition with some extra funds for wrap-around supports like travel, meal allowance and work boots.
“I’m too young to know where I’m going with things long term. I don’t think that’s a problem. I’m still trying to figure it out, but this trades thing is something I want to do and keep up. It’s a skill I’ll always have,” said Baker.
By Tatiana Tomljanovic
Photo: Chase Baker at the United Association Piping Industry College of BC in Delta, B.C. (Jeremy Allingham)