The trades changed my life. Now I build the people who build everything else, and I take that story to the stage.
Career built on job sites for
Brad Gard has spent over four decades in the electrical trade, on the tools since he was fourteen. Apprentice, journeyman, foreman, business owner, project manager, safety leader, and now Training Director at IBEW Local 120. Every stage taught him the same thing: skill is earned, not given.
Today he brings that lesson to the stage. Brad speaks to industry, education, and labour audiences about the three things he has spent a career living: building the next generation of skilled trades, mentorship that changes real outcomes, and safety culture people believe in rather than just comply with.
As Training Director, he oversees apprenticeship development, safety programming, and workforce pipeline initiatives, and has designed and delivered five consecutive rounds of provincial Skills Development Fund programming. His flagship keynote, Earned, Not Given, grew out of a program he built and ran, later studied by the Minister's office. It works on stage because it happened in real life first.
In 2026 he received NETCO's national Leadership Excellence Award for contributions to apprenticeship and electrical training across Canada, recognition he credits to the apprentices and instructors he works alongside.
These are not motivational talks. They are practitioner arguments, built from four decades of field experience, a training director's lens, and direct accountability for what happens when apprentices enter the trades unprepared, or never enter at all.
Thirty-eight apprentices. One hundred and five Grade 8 students. One day that proved leadership is revealed through real responsibility, not handed out with a title.
What happens when your best electricians become your worst teachers, and how to fix it before twenty years of knowledge walks out the door.
Safety paperwork saves no one. Real prevention happens in a conversation you weren't in the room for. You either build a culture that has it or wait for the incident that proves you didn't.
The skilled trades shortage isn't a pipeline problem. It's a perception problem, and the sector has been solving the wrong one for twenty years.
One live panel, one fireball, and the gear he almost skipped. A first-person account of the afternoon that proves current does not care about your plans.
Conference mainstages, trade associations and unions, apprenticeship and workforce-development conferences, education leaders, and employers building the next generation of skilled trades.
"Leadership is not given. It is earned."
Union training directors, apprenticeship coordinators, ICI construction leadership, workforce development professionals, and HR directors in trades-dependent organizations.
"The best tradesperson in your organization is extraordinary. The question is whether any of that will still exist in twenty years, or whether it retires with them."
Health and safety directors, project managers, site superintendents, and organizational leaders accountable for incident rates and safety culture.
"Zero incidents is not a goal you achieve with a better program. It's a standard you maintain with a better culture."
Ministry officials, policy and workforce development organizations, national industry conference audiences, and sector leaders with authority over trades training funding.
"That is not their failure. It is ours. We have not earned their attention. We expected it."
Safety days, stand-downs and summits, construction and industrial employers, electrical and high-voltage workforces, trade associations, unions, and apprenticeship programs.
"Current does not care about your schedule, your plan, or how good a hand you are."
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Flagship Keynote
In February 2026, 38 apprentices from IBEW Local 120 spent a day mentoring 105 Grade 8 students across eight hands-on stations - scissor lifts, boom lifts, telehandlers, circuit wiring, conduit bending, VR simulation, forklift operation. No scripts. No lectures. Just tradespeople doing what they do, alongside the next generation deciding what they want to be. That day is the heart of the signature keynote.
National Recognition
Established in 2016 and presented annually at the NETCO National Training Conference, the Leadership Excellence Award recognizes outstanding contributions to apprenticeship training and continuing electrical training across Canada - the industry training professionals who, through their organizations, help promote and strengthen education and training within the electrical sector.
A NETCO honour rooted in exactly what Brad builds: it names training, but training only matters because of the people who show up for it - the apprentices who chose this trade and the instructors who keep raising the bar.
Keynotes, half-day workshops, panel appearances, Ministry presentations, and industry conference sessions. Every talk is delivered from direct field experience, no consulting generalities, no borrowed frameworks.
Location
London, Ontario, Canada
Available for travel across Canada and the US.
What to Expect
A direct response within 48 hours. A short call to confirm fit, audience, and format. A talk built around your event context, not a generic deck pulled from a folder.
Formats Available
30-60 min keynote
90-min keynote with workshop
Half-day leadership session
Panel anchor or facilitator
Ministry or government presentation
Speaking Inquiries
Speaker One-Sheet