‘Opportunity for us to grow’

Red River College Polytechnic will become one of the first civilian schools to train Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft technicians.

The first cohort is expected to begin aircraft maintenance engineer training in fall 2027. Students will attend the post-secondary’s Stevenson campus in Winnipeg.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for us to grow,” Fred Meier, RRC Polytech’s president, said as he and University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch addressed business executives at a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce event Tuesday morning in Winnipeg.

They highlighted the local post-secondaries’ increasing work with the Canadian Armed Forces and broader defence sector.

The Royal Canadian Air Force has inked deals with 10 civilian schools to outsource training of its aircraft technicians. It historically has conducted its own training.

However, there’s been a training backlog, an RCAF video posted to social media notes. Students attending civilian colleges will undergo programming designed by the military and will get the same level of training as they would on base, the video explains.

It comes as the Air Force begins a 20-year-long modernization project.

RRC Polytech bid to be a partner training institution. The number of RCAF members to be trained at the polytechnic wasn’t available by end of day Tuesday.

Planning and implementation is being finalized, Emily Doer, RRC Polytech’s acting director of public relations, wrote in a statement.

Schools in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, among others, are also conducting training.

There seems to be military demand for skilled trades, Meier told the Free Press after Tuesday’s event.

“We always think of defence skills … as being military,” Meier said. “Really, they’ve got a lot of facilities to take care of.”

However, many of RRC Polytech’s skilled trades programs have waitlists.

The Manitoba polytechnic has lobbied Ottawa for “capacity building” funding. The federal government announced up to $6 billion for more skilled trades workers, over five years, in its 2026 spring economic update.

The feds later promised $2 billion for expanding training and apprenticeship programs.

Funding distribution to the provinces and their respective schools is being worked out, Meier said. He’s expecting an increase in funded seats at RRC Polytech in 2027.

Already, the post-secondary has added 48 seats in its pre-employment electrical program and a new section to its automotive service technician certificate program.

“I think that we’ll be playing a greater role with the Canadian Armed Forces in training capacity and inviting more members onto our campuses,” Meier said when asked where he sees RRC Polytech in two years’ time.

Benarroch expects years-long change at the University of Manitoba resulting from Canada’s current defence push.

Executives are talking to the Canadian Armed Forces about how the university can contribute to military research, he said.

“Securing the Arctic is going to be a huge responsibility for Canada, and we have a lot of knowledge in that area,” Benarroch said. “We’ve presented possibilities, and we’ll see how this rolls out.”

He called discussions “very early stages.”

The university oversees the Churchill Marine Observatory and employs researchers who study northern communications and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). It could conduct work for the military in virology and biosciences, Benarroch said.

In August, the post-secondary announced five new research program heads. Professors specializing in Arctic navigation and Canadian defence, mining, bioengineering, global public health and climate resilience in the Arctic have and are arriving in Manitoba over the coming year.

The professionals come through the federal government’s Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair program. This, plus funding for more academics, graduate students and research, leaves the University of Manitoba with $79 million in federal funding over the next 12 years, Benarroch said.

An Indigenous water management chair and a new aerospace professor are incoming.

“All of these build on needs here in the province of Manitoba, and Canada as a whole,” Benarroch said. “We see kind of a realignment into the areas where we begin to do more research.”

Manitoba Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable called the emphasis on defence “fantastic.”

“We have world-class institutions here that have been doing research and applied research for generations,” she said. “To be able to transition to focus it on a real need is great.”

Manitoba businesses — including in aerospace and defence — have an “opportunity” to better collaborate with post-secondaries on research and development, said Elisabeth Saftiuk, acting president of the Manitoba chambers.

“The strength of Manitoba’s economy and the strength of Manitoba’s post-secondary system are deeply connected.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com