AUGUST 30, 2024

Reconciliation in Action: Fostering Working Experiences for Youth

Our Reconciliation Action Plan is a roadmap to fostering deeper connections with Indigenous communities, organizations, and businesses. With three foundational pillars—People, Collaboration, and Procurement—we seek to not only increase our employees' awareness and education but also cultivate an environment where Indigenous talent can succeed.

Empowering Youth

Our Reconciliation Action Plan is a roadmap to fostering deeper connections with Indigenous communities, organizations, and businesses. With three foundational pillars—People, Collaboration, and Procurement—we seek to not only increase our employees' awareness and education but also cultivate an environment where Indigenous talent can succeed.

This summer, Tridel collaborated with the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC) for their Summer Leadership Program to offer students a glimpse into our company and educate them on the opportunities within the construction and development industry. The UIEC works with Indigenous youth from across the TDSB to support them in their education and secure real-world working experiences to help build their job readiness. For the month of July, Tridel was excited to welcome two high school students, Judah and Robert.

As their term with Tridel came to an end, we sat down with Robert and Judah to learn more about their time spent at Tridel and their future goals.

Tell us about yourself. What are your hobbies and future goals?

Judah: I’m going to be starting Grade 12 this September. I have a keen interest in drumming and human behaviour, particularly psychology, and I’m exploring various future career paths. Among my aspirations is a career in freelance photography. I’m also considering higher education at the University of British Columbia, contemplating a degree in tech theatre, focusing on aspects like theatre lighting and sound.

Robert: I just finished high school and am taking a one-year gap year. Recently, I’ve started looking into colleges for automotive business. My hobbies include working out, and my goals are to be healthy and to run my own company to help people create and sell online courses and build digital communities. In the future, I plan to grow this business and make an impact on online education.

Why did you decide to do your placement at Tridel?

Robert: I chose Tridel for my co-op because it represented a well-known company that cares about their impact on society. Getting to engage and experience hands-on activities with teams like marketing, construction, and sales made me very excited about this opportunity.

Judah: I decided to pursue my Co-op placement at Tridel because it stood out as an interesting opportunity on the list. I was eager to acquire corporate experience, and Tridel provided the chance to develop my skills in a corporate setting. This combination of engaging work and the work environment made Tridel the ideal choice for my placement.

What did you enjoy most during your time at Tridel?

Judah: During my time at Tridel, I enjoyed the tech aspects the most, particularly working hands-on with tools like Matterport and other camera systems with the Customer Care team. The corporate atmosphere at Tridel was a new experience for me that helped me gain professional skills.

Robert: I enjoyed the opportunity to visit and speak with different teams and departments to understand how they all fit together to create communities. I loved how Tridel put social responsibility into their work. Learning new skills and seeing how buildings come together was great!

It was a pleasure working with both of you on projects related to Social Impact. What did you learn about our work that was new to you?

Judah: Working on various Social Impact projects was an enriching experience. I learned that community outreach is a significant part of what a homebuilder like Tridel engages in. Also, learning about ESG helped me learn more about sustainability and social responsibility.

Robert: It was interesting to learn how sustainable development goes, and how important the involvement of the community is in creating homes and neighbourhoods. All the innovative approaches by Tridel to benefiting the environment and communities where they build were completely new to me.

We thank Judah and Robert for their time with us and wish them all the best in their future endeavours!

To learn more about our journey towards reconciliation, read our Reconciliation Action Plan.