Olds College of Agriculture & Technology extends sincere thanks to Belgard Canada, a leading manufacturer of hardscape materials, for their generous donation of six pallets of manufactured stone products to the Landscape Horticulturist Apprenticeship program in the School of Trades and Skills.
The donation includes a new line of manufactured stone — the Diamond Pro Air retaining wall block, produced in Acheson, Alta., and not yet widely used in the industry — giving students a rare opportunity to work with cutting-edge materials. Over the next several program sessions, these products will help students design and build retaining walls and interlocking paving stone patios as part of their training. This year alone, with two intakes annually, up to 36 apprentices in the Landscape Horticulturist Apprenticeship program at Olds College will gain valuable hands-on experience that directly mirrors the work they’ll do in the field.
This donation provides our students with the opportunity to work directly with a range of manufactured stone products and to see firsthand how different production methods influence installation and labour. It’s an invaluable way to connect classroom learning with real-world applications.
The donation was kindly arranged by Jim Dejewski, Key Account Manager at Belgard Canada, a company that has been a consistent supporter of Olds College, providing material donations since 2023 to help enhance experiential learning in landscape construction.
In addition to enriching student learning, this collaboration offers Belgard valuable feedback from program participants, who are among the first in the industry to work with the company’s newest products.
Olds College is grateful for Belgard’s continued partnership and commitment to supporting the next generation of skilled landscape professionals.
This four year program consists of eight weeks each year of classroom instruction, and a minimum of 1,260 hours of on-the-job training per period of classroom instruction. You will receive hands-on experience gaining foundational knowledge in every part of the industry and the skills required to start out on your own.