School Field Trips & Skill City

ALL teachers wanting to bring their class on a field trip MUST register via the Skills Portal. Schools must be a Skills School in order to create a username and password.

Due to EXPO building capacity numbers, registration is restricted to a certain number of spots available. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis.

We provide a bus subsidy to help offset the costs of attending the Provincial Skills Canada Competition. The subsidy can be applied for after you attend the field trip. The form link will be emailed to you after the event, it is important that you come through Launch Pad to confirm your attendance. New this year, Subsidy amounts are now based on the total kilometers of your total trip.

• 0-99KMS = $100/bus
• 100-250KMS = $200/bus
• Over 250KMS = $400/bus

The 33rd Provincial Skills Canada Competition is the best career exploration field trip in the province, where students can:

• Watch an inspiring video at Launch Pad for an inside look at where a career in the trades or technologies can take you and get informed about what to expect on the competition floor.
• Witness Alberta’s best high school and post-secondary students compete in over 45 skilled trade and technology events.
• Try a variety of hands on activities and discover your skills and interests at the Try-A-Trades® and Try-A-Skills.
• Learn about career and education options by engaging with industry and education exhibitors in Skill City.

How to get the best field trip experience:

• We highly recommend teachers register ASAP to get your optimal time slot. Arrival times are 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00 and 12:30. We appreciate your efforts to help us provide a safe and positive experience for visitors by arriving at your scheduled time with your registered number of students. If you arrive outside of your scheduled time, we may ask you to wait as there are building capacity numbers we must adhere to.
• Beat the rush and busy line ups at the Try-A-Trades! We highly encourage teachers to arrive at 8:30am to eliminate long wait times and to better accommodate student sensory issues.
• A week prior to the event, we will send teachers an e-mail with:
  • An event floor plan – print and share this ahead of time with your students. It is helpful if they want to identify some areas of interest. The activities with a Try-A-Trade® symbol will have an interactive, hands-on activity. These get very busy and long line ups may occur. An interactive map (via a device) can be found HERE.
  • Bus drop-off/pick-up map – please adhere to this route. We have designed it to ensure a safe arrival for students. There will be an attendant outside to help identify where to pull up/drop-off/pick-up and to greet you.
• Once you have been greeted by a Skills Canada Alberta representative, we will ask for your school name and the number of students on your bus. This information will be recorded on a piece of paper that you must take to your first mandatory stop – LAUNCH PAD!
• At Launch Pad, please hand the paper to a Skills Canada Alberta representative who will officially register you as attending the field trip. After watching a quick 3 minute video, teachers can lead students to the main halls to see the competition floor, Try-A-Trades and Skills City booths.
• Skills Canada Alberta does not offer lunch for field trips. We highly recommend that students bring a packed lunch. There are spaces to eat along the EXPO concourse and green spaces outside. EXPO offers a small food court, but we are not responsible for the long wait lines that will occur here.
• Please expect a LOT of noise and huge crowds. We do our best to implement designated arrival times to avoid huge crowds. If there are students with sensory issues, we do provide a special space if needed.
• Travel subsidies are available for your school to attend a field trip to the Provincial Skills Canada Competition. After registering your school at Launch Pad and after attending the School Field Trip, we will e-mail you a form to complete in order to obtain your subsidy. Please note that to complete the submission, you will need to send us a copy of your transportation receipts (bus invoice, gas receipt, mileage form, etc.). Each approved subsidy will receive a cheque for a maximum of the complete traveled kilometer allowance per bus based on your transportation costs. Cheques will be made out to the school.

For School Field Trip questions, please contact Alycia at alyciap@skillsalberta.com

Looking to register as an exhibitor at Skill City? Apply here!