Walking into a trades workshop for the first time can feel intimidating, especially if you have never held a tool before. So before you arrive at your first cohort, here’s exactly what your Day 1 looks like at the Site Squad Bootcamp LE. No surprises.
9:00 AM: arrival and welcome
You’ll arrive to a small group of 6 to 10 fellow participants and a Coach who is glad you’re here. We don’t open with a lecture. We open with a conversation: who you are, what brought you here, and what we’re going to do over the next two days. Coffee, water, and a welcoming room. That’s it.
PPE check and the jewellery rule
Before any tool comes out, every person on site gets fitted with the right Personal Protective Equipment: safety glasses, work gloves, steel-toed boots, and high-visibility gear for outdoor work. Large hoop earrings, dangling chains, and loose jewellery come off. Long hair gets tied back. We do this every morning, not just Day 1, because safety habits are built through repetition.
Module 1: job-site conduct
The first real module isn’t about tools. It’s about how you carry yourself on a job site, how you talk to clients, how you handle pressure, and the non-negotiables that keep everyone safe. We cover the substance and conduct policy frankly and without judgement, and we share confidential Ontario support resources for anyone who needs them.
Tools, tapes, and your first measuring drill
By late morning you’ll be on your feet handling real hand tools: framing hammers, the Canadian Robertson screwdriver (you’ll learn why we love it), pry bars, levels, utility knives, and your first measuring tape. We work through identification stations until every participant can name any tool within a few seconds. It’s faster than you’d expect.
Lunch, then safe lifting and site navigation
After lunch we tackle the single biggest cause of trades workplace injuries: lifting wrong. You’ll learn the nine-step safe lifting sequence, practice with weighted boxes, and run team lifts together. Then we walk through a small obstacle course, carrying long boards, calling out turns, and pivoting the right way.
Day 1 ends with interview practice
This is the part most other programs skip. The last 45 minutes of Day 1 are dedicated to interview skills: how to walk in, how to shake a hand correctly, how to answer the questions employers actually ask for general-labour roles. Every participant practises out loud at least once.
You belong here
We say this at the start of every cohort because it’s true: showing up is the hardest part. If you can do that, we can do the rest together. Day 2 is when the demolition and outdoor skills come in. By the end of it, you’ll have a certificate and a real skill set.