Driven to act: Isabelle Ouellette's path to advocacy for youth in the skilled trades

At first, Isabelle Ouellette had little idea of how to enter apprenticeship. But she knew it’s where she belonged.

All her life, says the 22-year-old NAIT Auto Body Technician apprentice, “I had a passion for cars.”

Ouellette’s parents, Michelle and Blair, remember her early ability to tell the difference between a Mercedes, BMW or Audi, or painting her toys like they’d come into the shop for work. Her favourite movie, of course, was Disney’s Cars. When she got older, she and friends would hit every vehicle show they could.

Then, in high school, “I signed up for auto body and immediately loved it.”

Ouellette was taken in by the shine of a freshly painted fender. She found the repetition of sanding and finishing meditative. After class, she stayed late, working away.

“When I graduated, I was like, ‘OK, in school, there was only one thing I really, really loved.’”

University educated, her parents were supportive but also unsure of how to help their daughter get into the field. Determined, Ouellette learned how to sponsor herself for apprenticeship and enrolled at NAIT. Then, in early 2024, she headed out with a stack of resumés, dropping one at Southgate Collision Centre, in Edmonton.

Do you want to be a detailer? they asked, needing someone to wash and polish vehicles. Ouellette has been there working and progressing ever since, and continuing her education.

She loves it. She thinks other young people may, too – and that short-staffed industries would benefit if more young people understood the possibilities for the profession. So, as she thinks about the trajectory of what a skilled-trades career trades may look like for herself and for her generation, Ouellette is speaking up for others to get a chance to find their own place to belong.

Making her voice heard

Ouellette may be naturally inclined to develop a motivating voice, or there are at least strong indicators that it’s worth her effort to try. She's the youngest and only female technician in her shop. Twice part of a minority, she jumped at the chance to join the Youth Apprenticeship Council (YAC).

In spring, Ouellette became NAIT’s first representative on the inaugural 10-person, national group. She was pointed to the opportunity by the polytechnic’s Office of Apprenticeship. Once a month, she clocks out early to meet virtually with the group to, as organizer Canadian Apprenticeship Forum puts it, “help shape the future of apprenticeship in Canada.”

“It makes me happy that someone cares about what we think,” says Ouellette, “and that we have that opportunity to start real change.”

She’s thought deeply about that change. One reason Ouellette didn’t know how to get into apprenticeship is because she recalls no one in high school explaining it – like the skilled trades were considered “a plan B,” she says. With YAC, Ouellette feels she’s “presenting it as an equal option and showing that it can be a rewarding and fulfilling career.”

That advocacy gives her mentor and journeyman Dennis Kinnee (Auto Body Technician ’93) hope. Now in his early 60s and eyeing retirement, he sees a worrying shortage of youth ready to step into his steel-toed boots – Ouellette being an exception.

“She's taking initiative to let her voice be heard,” he says. “You have to start with a voice before you get change.”

Ouellette’s initiative recently extended to the written word. In August, she published an opinion piece with The Future Economy, an online publication dedicated to Canadian competitiveness and sustainability. It’s about why young people struggle to enter and stay in the trades, and covers financial barriers, lack of early exposure to the trades, and more.

It’s a subject that Ouellette knows has an impact on more than just the success of a shop like her and Kinnee’s.

“If Canada is serious about strengthening its skilled trades workforce,” she writes, “we need to focus not only on attracting new apprentices, but on supporting them throughout their careers.”

A career path to happiness

After finding her way into apprenticeship, Ouellette has also found ways to stick with it, much to the delight of her parents, Blair, who has a civil engineering degree, and Michelle, with an MBA and an environmental science degree. Particularly, they’re excited at their daughter’s prospects for parlaying apprenticeship into a long and diverse career.

“I think her involvement with the Youth Apprenticeship Council … is going to round out her knowledge of the industry, what the drivers are, what the impediments are,” says Blair. That is, it could prepare her for similar roles later.

“She's learning about governance and what it means to be on a board,” says Michelle. “She's learning … how to grow professionally and intellectually.”

What mattered most to Michelle is that the Ouellette kids, which include a son, continued their education at a university, college or polytechnic, the three being equal in her mind. Blair would agree.

“Isabelle is very engaged and excited about her career,” he says. “That makes me very happy. At the end of the day, we all want a career we’re happy with.”

The joy Ouellette experienced in high school auto body has persisted. Her long-term plans include being off the tools while staying involved with the skilled trades, but she’s where she wants to be for now.

“It’s therapeutic,” says Ouellette of her days with vehicles. “When you're sanding body filler, it's quite peaceful.”

Kinnee may see that as an expression of her passion for the work. As he describes it, shaping a dented fender sounds similar to shaping a career. As her on-the-job mentor, Kinnee finds himself frequently returning to the same advice for Ouellette, who, as she develops into an adviser in her own right, knows there’s still much to learn, be it in the shop or with YAC.

Even if the task at hand seems big, take your time. Focus on all the steps along the way. Embrace the challenge and keep going. Know that someone is going to be depending on you.

“She’s doing well,” Kinnee says.