KITCHENER, Ontario - The Waterloo Region District School Board, in association with the Waterloo-Wellington Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors (HRAC), officially opened Ontario's first HVAC lab at Elmira District Secondary School (D.S.S.).

The facility will provide students with the opportunity to graduate from secondary school with a Gas Technician 3 license for the province of Ontario. The license will be obtained through a two-credit format, including an HRAC co-op placement.

Representatives from the HRAC, under the direction of Ed Fitzgerald, Union Gas-Waterloo, and John Menzies, John Menzies Training and Consulting, encouraged the membership to adopt the initiative. The association accepted the proposal and worked to help define the requirements of the facility and curriculum delivery. A considerable number of contributions and donations towards this project have come from the Waterloo-Wellington HRAC membership.

The Waterloo Region District School Board, under the direction of Randy Dyck, technical director, Elmira D.S.S., has also contributed towards upgrading Elmira D.S.S. facilities structural, heating, and electrification requirements. The most predominant focus has been the establishment and installation of a fully equipped gas fitter training facility. Not only will the facility provide the equipment necessary to train and certify secondary students for a Gas Fitter 3 certificate, but it also will serve the mechanical industry as a training site for employees towards a Gas Fitter 2 certificate.

Publication date: 11/22/2004