Jessica Labbe: Forging Her Path to Red Seal

Tucked behind a main road in a commercial nook of Courtenay, B.C., is a compact industrial shop where Jessica Labbe has spent nearly 7 years honing her skilled trade of metal fabrication. She landed a job at Forbidden Alloy Products after completing her first year of technical training in Welding and wound up completing her entire Metal Fabrication apprenticeship working with the shop owner.   

Jessica started her skilled trades journey in high school through the Youth Train in Trades Program and spent the second half of her last year attending technical training at North Island College.  She wasn't sure what she wanted to do after high school, but she had done some hobby welding with family that piqued her interest enough to explore the trade to see if it was a good fit.   

Although she started in Welding, she switched to Metal Fabrication (as her employer is a certified Metal Fabricator) and steadily progressed her way through her apprenticeship, eventually receiving her Red Seal certification. Jessica has the unique circumstance of being the sole employee of the shop, which means she has had opportunities to work on projects from start to finish and perform a wide variety of tasks that would usually be outsourced in a bigger operation. 

When we met Jessica, she was in the midst of crafting a metal boat. It is an incredible accomplishment and demonstration of skill to take raw materials and have the knowledge and ability to shape it into a working boat. For her, the all-round abilities were what drew her to metal fabrication. “You really get to do so much more. A small shop means you get to take on more work, and different kinds of work. You get quite a variety of projects.  Even when I first started here, I got to do projects from start to finish, whereas when you’re new in some of the bigger companies, you might be doing repetitive tasks or assigned to just grinding or cutting. But here, you get to do everything.” 

As an avid fisher, Jessica also has a great appreciation for the boats made in shop and what they mean to the community – both for hobby and commercial anglers.  “For example, I’m so proud that the boat, seeing how it literally comes from something flat into something that’s fully finished and can go out on the water, is now making income for other people. Also, there’s something to just being able to see stuff come together, from idea to finished boat. When you're done and looking at what you’ve built, it's like, oh wow!” 

Jessica has benefited a lot from learning from an experienced tradesperson and shop owner, it is not without its challenges. While she's been more hands-on than perhaps most metal fabricators, she has also had to think on her feet and troubleshoot without relying on the expertise of a large team.“The biggest challenges are… certain things that you haven't done yet, because a lot of our projects is so custom that some of the pieces get pretty complicated. There's definitely a lot of mental and physical work.” 

Along with seeing boats leave the shop, her proudest moments also include receiving her Red Seal certification. “Once you have that certificate, it's a major achievement on your resume. If you have your Red Seal, employers know they can hire you and put your skillset to work right away. And I think the certificate shows commitment…that you want to do it and that you’ve put in the work to complete your apprenticeship and get your certification. And it was just something that I always thought would be pretty cool just to say that I have and to be confident in using what I’ve learned and the right tools to do the job.” 

For Jessica, the journey in Metal Fabrication has not only resulted in Red Seal certification but the confidence and ability to pursue other related areas if she wishes. 

“And even if things change in the future, I have the ability to apply my learnings and skillset at home. ‘Hey, I want to build this in my yard, I can do it because I have the trades knowledge to do it.’ If you ever needed to or wanted to like flip over into construction or any other trades, it’s all the basic trade knowledge of how to lay things out, use your tools, and work efficiently.” 

Her advice to youth and students who are curious about skilled trades is to give it a try - there are so many benefits to starting an apprenticeship early and with SkilledTradesBC Youth Programs – you’re getting a jump start on your trades training as well as your career! 

“If you try it and don't like it, you still gain so much knowledge of just how to use tools and how to build something and you're not losing out on anything. ”

Learn more about Metal Fabrication.