Gunn goes for gold at the Skills Canada National Competition

Posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022

In less than two weeks’ time, Connor Gunn—a recent graduate of the Level 3 Auto Service Technician Apprenticeship program—will be representing Algonquin College and Ontario at the Skills Canada National Competition.

Each year, 300 skilled trade and technology students gather to compete in over 35 competition categories ranging from autobody repair to cloud computing. 

After placing first at last month’s Skills Ontario Competition, Gunn will soon be travelling over 4,000 kilometers west to Vancouver to compete against other aspiring mechanics from across the country in the Auto Technology category. 

As early as he can remember, Gunn has had a passion for four wheels and an engine. From dreaming up cars in his notebook to honing in on video games that fulfilled his need for speed, for Gunn becoming a mechanic was a natural progression. 

“I was lucky enough that the high school I went to had an automotive shop, so I was able to take some automotive courses throughout high school and dip my toes into the water,” says Gunn. 

Though it wasn’t just accessibility that prompted his career trajectory but a desire for hands-on work as well. 

“I’ve always been big on working with my hands, so it’s very rewarding to work in a field where I can really combine both mental and physical challenges,” say Gunn. “It’s such a cool process to have something come to you broken, fix it with your hands and knowledge, and produce a complete and working product.” 

Now, Gunn has his sights set on fixing some of the most challenging automotive diagnoses he may ever encounter at the fast-approaching national skills competition. 

“Not only will the competition be fierce, but we will be servicing loads of different systems and vehicles from a variety of manufacturers. A wide range of skills will be challenged,” he says. “There’s one system in particular that we’ll be working on. It’s a Honda engine, which sits on a stand outside of a vehicle and has multiple ever-changing programmable faults built into it that we’ll have to diagnose, confirm and ultimately repair.” 

While daunting, Gunn feels prepared for the challenges that await him — accrediting much of his readiness to the knowledgeable teachers who have guided him through his three levels of apprenticeship. 

“I’ve been at Algonquin College for all three of my apprenticeship levels, and the teachers have really done an incredible job of training us for our respective careers in the automotive industry,” says Gunn. “When it comes to the upcoming skills competition, I’m not sure how I could’ve gotten here without them. The knowledge they have as veterans of the industry is invaluable.” 

Gunn shares that while turning a wrench is now a daily thing for him, it’s the more niche vehicle diagnoses that his teachers have really helped him begin to master and he hopes to excel at in the upcoming national skills competition. 

If Gunn places first in Vancouver, he will move on to represent Algonquin College and Canada at the WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 Competition in October, which he describes as the opportunity of a lifetime. 

Stay tuned for Gunn’s progress on the road to Shanghai. Best of luck!


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