Local cabinetmaker to attend WorldSkills

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

A fourth-year cabinetmaker apprentice and 2015 Strathmore High School (SHS) graduate, Taylor Desjardins has built a reputation for himself as one of Canada’s best cabinetmakers.
Building on that, Desjardins is now taking his talents to the WorldSkills competition in Russia Aug. 22-27 to compete alongside team Canada.
Every two years, WorldSkills hosts the world championships of skills which attracts more than 1,600 Competitors from more than 60 countries. At this event, young people from all corners of the globe gather together for the chance to win a prestigious medal in their chosen skill. The competitors represent the best of their peers and are selected from skills competitions that are held in WorldSkills Member countries and regions.
Throughout his high school years, Desjardins had a passion for working with lumber and solid materials – he completed six construction classes during his three years at SHS. Veering away from the set high school curriculum and instead designing his own projects to build, Desjardins was quick to connect with the creativity woodworking offered.
“My teacher Mr. Clark was an amazing teacher and mentor,” said Desjardins. “He showed me how to use the machines and tools to my advantage, allowing me to start building things a little more complicated.”
Following high school, Desjardins secured a job at his current place of work, NyStil Custom Cabinets, and has moved forward with formal training since then.
In his first year of schooling for cabinetmaking in 2017, Desjardins entered a skills competition for cabinetmaking. He advanced to provincials, winning gold, and then placed fourth in the national competition in Winnipeg.
Desjardins entered the provincial skills competition the following year, again placing first, before attending his second national competition in Edmonton in 2018 where he took top spot.
“Luckily my training and hard work paid off, for it was the qualifying year for the WorldSkills competition which takes place every other year,” said Desjardins. His winning performance at nationals earned him a spot to compete in the WorldSkills prospect group for a shot at competing in the WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia in 2019.
At both the provincial and national levels, contestants get 12 hours to build and complete a cabinet with different types of joinery and moving parts, and whichever contestant does the best job moves on to the next level of competition.
“The biggest challenges during the competition are the ones that take place in your head; it’s one big mental game,” said Desjardins. “You need to be focused and diligent with your work, use your time wisely for you only have so long, and if you make a mistake then move on and keep going because you have absolutely no time on your hands to stop and think.”
To earn his spot at WorldSkills in Kazan, Desjardins beat out another strong cabinetmaking competitor in the WorldSkills prospect group in Halifax.
To prepare for the WorldSkills competition, Desjardins will be training over 13 hours a week, on top of his regular work schedule. He will be practicing building three proposed cabinets, each having their own unique structure and joinery. He will not know until the day of the WorldSkills competition which of the three styles of cabinet he must make or what its specifications are.
Although there is no prize for winning the competitions, Desjardins does receive some funding from Skills Canada Alberta for the purchase of tools, material expenses and travel accommodations to practice and to attend the world competition.
Desjardins said he has come a long way since high school, from not knowing what he wanted to do when he grew up, to watching his first skills competition in junior high and believing the trades were for people who couldn’t get a good education. He hopes the stigma some young students have about the trades will disappear, just as he has learned first-hand the benefits of entering the trades. He hopes to inspire other students with a passion for creativity to do the same.
“I was wrong; trades are a perfect place for young people to put their hand skills to use and make good money doing it,” said Desjardins. “Trades are great for people with a good work ethic and a thirst for creativity. The experience I’ve had so far has been life changing (and) I wouldn’t be here today this far ahead if it wasn’t for the Skills organization.”