Thompson Rivers University offers Trades - Apprenticeship in Saw Filer: Apprenticeship, a trades - apprenticeship in Trades programme in Kamloops, Canada. The programme runs for 6 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 600 per total for local students.
The Saw Filer apprenticeship at Thompson Rivers University trains tradespeople to fit, sharpen and maintain circular saws, band saws, gang saws and chain saws, and to operate, repair and adjust the saw-sharpening equipment used in sawmills. Technical training is delivered exclusively at TRU's Williams Lake campus, which the university states is the only training institution in British Columbia offering this trade's technical instruction. The program is organized into three levels: Level 1 combines 1,680 work-based hours with 180 in-school hours over six weeks; Level 2 pairs 1,680 work-based hours with 120 in-school hours over four weeks; and an optional Level 3 benchperson endorsement adds a further 1,680 work-based hours with 120 in-school hours over four weeks. Multiple intakes are scheduled through 2026 to 2028. On completion, apprentices can earn a certificate of qualification and a certificate of apprenticeship, with provincial and inter-provincial (Red Seal) recognition, becoming journeypersons in the trade. Entry requires Grade 10 education including English 10, Math 10 and Science 10 or equivalent, plus an employer approved to sponsor apprentice training. It suits registered apprentices in the saw-filing trade who need the in-school technical component alongside their sponsored on-the-job training.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: The program page states academic entry as Grade 10 education, including English 10, Math 10 and Science 10 or equivalent, with Grade 12 preferred. Before starting technical training, prospective apprentices must complete 840 hours of work-based training in a saw filing room, assisting saw filers in their work, and must secure an employer approved to provide that on-the-job training who is willing to register the apprentice with SkilledTradesBC and keep a record of their performance. International applicants must also meet Thompson Rivers University's own language bar for direct entry into an undergraduate certificate or diploma program: IELTS Academic 6.5 with no band below 6.0, or TOEFL iBT 88 with no section below 20, per TRU's English requirements page.
Application Details
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply directly to TRU: for the September (Fall) intake the deadline is 1 May, for January (Winter) it is 1 September, and for the May (Summer) intake it is 1 January; applications for most programs open 1 October, and a deadline falling on a weekend or statutory holiday moves to the next working day. International applicants follow the same intake structure with deadlines of 1 May (September), 1 October (January) and 1 February (May); TRU still reviews later applications where space remains, though high-volume programs can close early, so admission runs on a rolling basis around these published cut-offs for the 2027 entry cycle. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
