Anika Jones in training for the ‘Olympics’ of the skilled trades
Anika Jones really likes cars. She wears that passion on her sleeve. One of her favourite models, an ’85 Toyota Supra, is tattooed on her right arm. Her dad bought one when he was 18; when she turned that age, she got the version she could afford.
“My whole family’s into cars,” says Jones, now 21, “but no one's ever really gone into working on them.”
Until now. Jones is in her 3rd year of NAIT’s Auto Body Technician program and is a full-time painter in an Edmonton shop. But she’s not just working in the trade. Jones has embraced her family trailblazer status with confidence, enthusiasm and ambition that has put her on the world stage.
In September 2026, the apprentice will travel to Shanghai, China to compete in car painting at WorldSkills, an event often referred to as the Olympics of the skilled trades. Having bested the field among age-eligible competitors (22 or younger) at the SkillsCanada nationals in May in Regina, Jones is Team Canada’s sole representative in her event.
“I don’t know what to expect,” she says, admitting to some trepidation. “It’ll be something.”
The understatement matches Jones’ demeanor: reserved but friendly, cautious but focused. She’s aware of the opportunity she has earned but also of how much it will take to get there.
“We have a lot of work to do to get to the world level, but she's definitely on the right path,” says Cecile Bukmeier, Auto Body Technician chair and a member of the class of ’15. “She has the right attitude. She has the capability to take on more and that drive, that hunger, to do it.”
Until Christmas, Jones and Bukmeier, who also serves as the Skills Canada expert in car painting, will meet twice weekly at NAIT’s Patricia Campus auto body shop for early evening training sessions. After the new year – and once Bukmeier feels she has learned enough about Jones’ skill set to know what to concentrate on – they’ll meet more frequently.
Learn about what you can do as an auto body technician
Bukmeier will also start revving up the intensity, familiarizing Jones with the stress she’ll likely experience during the event. It will happen in a timeframe too tight for hesitation or recovery from major mistakes.
Though the event’s specific tasks are kept secret, Bukmeier, a past expert at several WorldSkills, knows they’ll be tough. Likely, they’ll involve small damage repair, surface preparation and colour matching, and challenging, multi-stage finishes, such as pearl or metalic colours.
“It's not just the finished project, it's everything up to that point,” says Bukmeier. Jones, she adds “will be judged throughout each stage. Each one of these tasks … is what we're building off of and trying to refine so that when she gets there, it's second nature.”
Bukmeier is setting a goal for (if not a podium placement, of course) a medallion of excellence, which recognizes an exceptionally high score. “At the end of the day, I want her to try to get as much as she can out of this experience,” says the trainer.
Jones doesn’t let on whether or not she’s in it to win it. If anything, she’s looking beyond, envisioning a life with WorldSkills and a year’s worth of one-on-one instruction on her resumé.
“I just hope to be able to fully understand [every] component of my job, because I want to keep doing it,” says Jones. “I just want to get more confidence in myself.”
She wants others to share in that confidence, as well. While most of her competitors at the nationals were female, Jones knows that shops are still populated mainly by male technicians. She has also faced what she feels was unwarranted skepticism from potential employers who’ve questioned qualifications and experience – something Bukmeier herself recalls.
“You have to outperform everyone,” she says. “And that isn’t even enough.”
WorldSkills may be enough to make a difference. “Being known in the community – and especially being a female – I feel can get me more opportunities in shops around town and, honestly, around the world,” she says.
It may even pave the way for her to create her own opportunities. “I eventually want to have my own custom shop,” Jones says.
And perhaps a Supra in the garage, circa 1985 – no problem if it’s a fixer-upper.