New leader for trades/apprenticeship at Okanagan College

Okanagan College will welcome a new Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship this spring with the arrival of Stephen Speers, who brings extensive experience as a post-secondary administrator and an impressive record of public service in Ontario.

Speers will start in the role on April 19. He comes to the College having most recently served as Chair of Workforce Development and Partnerships in the School of Trades and Apprenticeship at Conestoga College in southern Ontario.

For much of his 16-year career at Conestoga, Speers has been responsible for the development and delivery of the College’s Trades and Apprenticeship programs. He has also overseen administration of Conestoga’s Guelph Campus with oversight of the financial, human resource, and logistical operations of that 130,000 sq ft facility. For the past two years he has been contributing to the planning and development of a new Trades campus in the Brantford/Brant region.

“It’s challenging to put into words just how excited I am to be joining Okanagan College, with its strong reputation and nearly 60-year history of providing trades and apprenticeship training in the region,” Speers said. “I’m looking forward to working with the great team of people in Trades, colleagues across our campuses and centres, and our industry partners. I’m honoured to play a role in sustaining and developing the programs that open doors for students and see them go on to become the highly skilled tradespeople we need in our society.”

Speers holds a Master of Education from OISE – University of Toronto and studied Social Development Studies and History at the University of Waterloo.

Speers will replace Steve Moores, who retires this month after serving as Dean since 2013.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Stephen Speers as our new Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship,” Dr. Andrew Hay, Provost and Vice President Academic at Okanagan College said. “His depth and breadth of experience will no doubt be a benefit around our Leadership Team table, and support the ongoing enhancement of trades education and training at the College.”