Hamilton, Ontario — Mohawk College, Ford Motor Co. Canada and Hamilton, Ont.’s Eastgate Ford have banded together to put students in the fast lane toward careers in the automotive repair sector.
Through the partnership, students enrolled in Mohawk College’s two-year Motive Power Technician diploma program will have access to Ford’s dealership learning management system (LMS)—the same program used by Ford technicians across Canada.
According to Bob Brown, the coordinator for the course’s second year, students who work through the training modules and pass the associated quizzes will be able to earn the same standardized Ford certification dealership employees receive.
“To have access to this information, the same as an actual Ford technician has access to it, is really cool,” says Brown. “It truly prepares students for the real world.”
Robert Fricker, the service manager at Eastgate Ford, which allows Mohawk students to access its LMS, says the initiative gives students the advantage of entering a Ford dealership already knowing a great deal about the company’s training.
“If they can get the training done, then they don’t have to start from ground zero,” says Fricker. “They can start working on vehicles right off the bat.”
Brown says students who successfully complete the modules and apply to a Ford dealership will be virtually be guaranteed a job. He also says that even in a general automotive repair environment, the technical skills students learn in the motive power course are highly transferable.
“At the end of the two years, students are in the same curriculum as the apprenticeship students,” says Brown. “So, when they graduate here, they won’t have to back to school for apprenticeship training anymore—they just have to complete the required hands-on training and then take their technician’s exam.”
Ford Canada is encouraging its dealers to partner with local colleges in their regions.
