Common menu bar
Breadcrumb
Let’s get Cooking!
Saint John, New Brunswick—Well into his late forties, Gary Knox of Saint John, New Brunswick, spent his days working in a low-skilled job. The hard physical labour gradually took its toll on his health. In time, he found the work increasingly difficult as the arthritis in his arms and legs worsened.
When the service station where he worked was sold, Gary suddenly found himself out of a job. This turned out to be an opportunity in disguise.
Gary knew a man who worked as an executive cook at the Saint John Hilton Hotel. The man knew how much Gary loved to cook, and thought that Gary would be a good candidate for working in the hotel kitchen.
This was a turning point in Gary’s life. He returned to school and earned a General Education Development diploma (Grade 12 equivalency). He enrolled at the Moncton Community College, where he completed the necessary courses toward a designation as journeyman cook, and graduated with high marks.
While at college, Gary found out about the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG) program, which provides a taxable cash grant of $1,000 per year to registered apprentices upon successful completion of their first or second level of an apprenticeship program in a Red Seal trade. (The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program is recognized by employers throughout Canada as a standard of excellence in the skilled trades. It also provides greater mobility for skilled workers who may want to look for jobs opportunities beyond their hometown or home province.)
With the money provided by the AIG, Gary was able to pay off some of his bills and purchase professional knives for work. “Having the right tools for the trade helped me a lot,” he says. He believes that if more people working in low-skilled jobs knew about government incentive programs like the AIG, they might be more motivated to pursue apprenticeship opportunities in the skilled trades and improve their lives.
Gary has been working as an apprentice cook at the Hilton Hotel since 2001. Today, he enjoys what he does for a living and says he continues to learn from his colleagues. Not only is the work easier on him physically, it's also interesting and creative.
His next goal is to continue working hard towards obtaining his Red Seal designation. “As long as I'm cooking, I'm happy,”
he laughs.
Transcript
Gary – I’m Gary Knox, I work at the Hilton St-John. Before working here, I worked 18 years changing truck tires. I quit the job I was working at with a grade nine education, because I quit in grade ten. And I decided to go back to school, get my GED (General Education Development) and advance myself in the cooking trade.
Employer – In the past twelve months, Gary had gone back to school, then he entered the apprenticeship program, and then he got his first and second block. He is a role model for those people to say: “You know what? It’s not too late!”
Gary – The Government helped me with my block two that year. They implemented a thousand dollar grant. Basically, I filled out the application, mailed it in, and that was it! I got hired in the kitchen and I’ve been here ever since. It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, you can still learn. At fifty-three, I basically passed Grade twelve with a B average! Anybody can do it!