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Transcript: Construction and Maintenance Electrician
Trading Skills: Construction and Maintenance Electrician
Descriptive Transcript
[Bright music plays]
A child says, WHEE!
[Logo] “t.v.o kids original.” The animated multicoloured logo bounces onto a white background. The word "kids" has an eye in the orange letter "d" and a smile in the lime green letter "s".
[Child giggling]
[Upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Gears turn on a blueprint.
[Opening credits] T.V.O. kids presents.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah, a girl with long black hair in tight braids, is wearing a pink plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah stands beside Brody, a boy with short, curly brown hair wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: Welcome to Trading Skills!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody cross their arms and stand back to back.
AKEYLAH: The show where we take turns…
BRODY: …trying a skilled trade.
AKEYLAH: I'm Akeylah.
BRODY: I’m Brody.
AKEYLAH: A skilled trade is a job that requires a special skill.
DESCRIPTION: Videos show Akeylah and Brody trying different skilled trades. Brody examines a dog and controls an underwater remotely operated vehicle. Akeylah works in a recording studio and a salon and examines a car engine.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: There are lots of skill trades.
BRODY: And you might find the perfect trade for you!
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's a trade that could change your life.
BRODY: So come with us into the trades.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: On Trading Skills!
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle, funky music]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah joins Brody at the Skills Space work table. Brody wears a brown long-sleeved shirt. Akeylah wears a green and white striped collared shirt. Brody holds a remote. Akeylah sets down a screwdriver. Various tools hang on the back wall. An L.E.D. sign featuring a screwdriver and a wrench shines brightly in the space. Hard hats hang above.
AKEYLAH: All right, let's turn this thing on.
BRODY: Copy that. Get ready for wind like you've never...
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips a switch on the remote, and nothing happens. Brody and Akeylah frown and furrow their brows.
AKEYLAH: ...felt. Well, I'm not feeling it, so you're right.
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips the switch.
BRODY: We're trying to plan ahead for the summer when the skill space becomes the sizzle space.
AKEYLAH: It gets hot, so we're trying to rig up a fan worthy of the trades. We wanted a roar, but we got a whimper.
BRODY: We need to find a way to get more power, more electricity.
AKEYLAH: There's got to be something in here that can point us to the right trade.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Akeylah search the Skills Space.
[Whirring]
[Notification ding]
DESCRIPTION: Brody walks across the Skills Space with the Trades-A-Log book.
BRODY: Got something!
DESCRIPTION: Brody stands at the work table and reads from the book. Akeylah joins him.
BRODY: Construction and maintenance electricians install, repair, and maintain electrical systems in commercial and industrial settings, often powering big machines. There's a construction and maintenance electrician named Steph in Kitchener, Ontario.
DESCRIPTION: In a training facility, Construction and Maintenance Electrician Steph McLean turns away from an electrical panel and smiles. Steph wears her long dark hair in tight twists, tied back, a hard hat, safety glasses, a high-visibility long-sleeved shirt and work gloves.
AKEYLAH: That sounds like the upgrade we're looking for. I'm on it.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah leaves. Brody smiles and closes the Trades-A-Log book. He fans himself with the book.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: At a local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building, a Canadian flag flies.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: There was electricity in the air when I arrived at Local I.B.E.W. 804 Union Centre.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah walks through a warehouse space with rows of tables and electrical equipment, wearing her hair tied back and a faded purple plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah looks around, then waves.
AKEYLAH: Hi, Steph.
STEPH: Hi, Akeylah.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah high-five.
STEPH: Welcome to our training facility.
AKEYLAH: Thanks. I heard that construction and maintenance electricians could help Brody and I bring more power to the Skills Space.
STEPH: I could definitely help with that. We install and maintain electrical systems in all sorts of places that demand lots of electricity. The bigger, the better.
AKEYLAH: Do you ever rig up big fans?
DESCRIPTION: Steph looks over her shoulder and points to a large ceiling fan above.
STEPH: Is that big enough for you?
AKEYLAH: Yeah.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah grins.
STEPH: Ready to get to work?
AKEYLAH: Ready.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah follows Steph between rows of small rooms made out of plywood and past a whiteboard with schematics and notes. Akeylah wears a hard hat, safety glasses and work gloves. Steph points to racks storing narrow metal pipes.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is E.M.T.
AKEYLAH: Extremely major tubing?
STEPH: Electrical metallic tubing. It's a conduit. The E.M.T. is used to protect the wires inside of it from the elements, the environment, rodents, or whatever else could damage it.
AKEYLAH: So, what do we do with the E.M.T?
STEPH: We bend the pipe depending on where we need to send the wires through a building.
AKEYLAH: You need to bend it to send it.
STEPH: That's right. Let's grab this half-inch piece of E.M.T.
DESCRIPTION: Steph pulls one of the metal pipes, an E.M.T., off a rack.
STEPH: You can carry this one.
AKEYLAH: Yep.
STEPH: I'll grab the inch and a quarter.
DESCRIPTION: Steph grabs another, larger E.M.T.
STEPH: Let's go.
DESCRIPTION: Steph carries the larger E.M.T. on her shoulder and walks between the plywood rooms. Akeylah starts to follow, then pauses and tries to bend her smaller E.M.T. with no success.
[Akeylah grunting]
AKEYLAH: I hope there's an easier way.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Akeylah glances at a wall of electrical panels.
STEPH: I'm going to set mine down here. Akeylah, you can put yours on the table.
AKEYLAH: Ok.
DESCRIPTION: Steph sets her E.M.T. down on a wide cupboard. Akeylah sets hers down on a table next to a large tool.
STEPH: And based on the size of the conduit, we could either use a hand bender or an electronic motorized automatic bender.
DESCRIPTION: Steph looks from the hand bender on the table to the E.M.T. beside it.
STEPH: This right here is a half-inch E.M.T., so we could use the hand bender. So we're making a 90-degree angle. We're gonna mark it at 29, and we need to minus five, giving us a mark at 24. Do you wanna mark 24 there?
DESCRIPTION: Steph measures 29 inches on the E.M.T. with a measuring tape, then marks it with a pencil. Akeylah marks 24 inches.
STEPH: That's right. We're gonna slide the E.M.T. into the hand bender on this mark right here. You wanna flip the bender onto the floor.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides the E.M.T. into a holding clamp on the hand bender. She lines up the markings on both and then flips the E.M.T. onto the floor.
STEPH: So you put your foot on the foot pedal, and then you're gonna pull back as much as you can on this handle.
DESCRIPTION: Steph rests her foot on the raised pedal.
STEPH: Ready to give it a try?
AKEYLAH: Sure!
STEPH: Let's do this.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes Steph’s place. She rests her foot on the pedal and pulls on the handle of the hand bender.
AKEYLAH: Ok.
STEPH: Pull!
DESCRIPTION: The E.M.T. starts to bend.
STEPH: Yeah, it's going. Yeah!
[Steph clapping]
[Akeylah grunting]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah relaxes her hold.
AKEYLAH: How much more?
STEPH: I'll take it over from here.
DESCRIPTION: Steph takes Akeyla’s place. Steph steps on the pedal and bends the E.M.T. to a 90-degree angle.
STEPH: And then we get our level to check how straight our 90 is.
DESCRIPTION: Steph holds a level against the E.M.T. Akeylah kneels and checks the level.
AKEYLAH: It looks level to me.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah walks alongside Steph as Steph carries the larger E.M.T. on her shoulder.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: After manually bending the E.M.T., we clocked back in to use something more powerful.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeyah walk over to a machine with different holding clamps in a circular device and numbers marked around it.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is a clock bender. So what we're gonna do here, I'm gonna feed in our inch and a quarter conduit. You're gonna hold on to our controller and bend. We're gonna start to dial in our E.M.T. to this mark. We're looking for a 95, for the simple fact there's a little bit of spring back, so we gotta bend over our 90.
DESCRIPTION: Steph hands Akeylah the clock bender controls.
STEPH: Here you are.
AKEYLAH: Thank you.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides her E.M.T into a holding clamp on the clock bender.
STEPH: Feed it into our clock bender. Should be enough. Take it away, Akeylah.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah turns on the clock bender. The circular device rotates clockwise and starts to bend the E.M.T.
[Clock bender whirring]
AKEYLAH: Oh. That's much easier.
[Clock bender whirring]
STEPH: All right, you're going to stop now.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah stops the machine as an arrow on the rotating device passes the 90-degree mark.
STEPH: Perfect. You could just go ahead and press unload.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah presses the unload button on the control, and the circular device slowly rotates counterclockwise.
[Clock bender whirring]
STEPH: There you go.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah stops the clock bender, and Steph pulls out the E.M.T.
AKELAH: Wow.
STEPH: There you have it.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at the 90-degree bend in the E.M.T.
AKEYLAH: I'll tell people I did that by hand.
STEPH: Your secret is safe with me.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph walk through the training facility wearing safety harnesses that go over their shoulders, down their chests and around their thighs.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: When you work in big places like Steph does, a simple ladder doesn't always help you hit the right height. That's when you bring in the heavy equipment.
DESCRIPTION: Steph leads Akeylah over to a lift.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is our scissor lift. Are you ready to go up?
AKEYLAH: I am.
STEPH: All right, let's go.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah climb onto the scissor lift, then hook each other to the lift through d-rings on the backs of their harnesses. Steph grabs the joystick controls and raises the lift.
[Lift beeping]
STEPH: Hang on!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks toward the ceiling, then all around her and slowly smiles. She looks over the railing of the lift, and her smile slips.
AKEYLAH: Whoa.
[Lift beeping]
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah reach the ceiling. Akeylah turns toward the large fan.
AKEYLAH: Oh, there's the fan. That's what we need in the skill space. Sometimes you gotta think big in the skill trades.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah spreads her arms.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
AKEYLAH NARRATING: Back on Earth, we took a break so I could hear Steph's electric origin story.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph sit at one of the tables with their hard hats and work gloves set aside.
AKEYLAH: Steph, what was the conduit to you becoming a construction and maintenance electrician?
STEPH: Well, Akeylah, it started when I was working at a restaurant. One of my friends suggested that I get into the trades. She said to look into H-VAC, electrical, or plumbing. So I researched all three of those trades and gravitated straight towards electrical. I would have job sustainability and stability until I wanted to retire. And there's a vast amount of pathways within the electrical industry that I could choose from. So I would never get bored.
AKEYLAH: Now that you're an electrician, is it everything you hoped for?
STEPH: Akeylah, it's everything I hoped for and more. The learning is continuous. So a girl like me that gets bored quickly, can never get bored. My interest is always electrified.
AKEYLAH: So inspiring. If someone like me were to be interested in your trade, what advice would you give them?
STEPH: From the get-go, I would say if you believe that you could do it, you could definitely do it. It's important to always remember why you wanted to be a tradesperson. So when the days get hard, remember your why, and that will help you push forward.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Akeylah and Steph walk between the plywood rooms in their safety gear. Steph carries the smaller E.M.T.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we've bent our E.M.T., it's time to wire it up.
AKEYLAH: Ok, what's the first step?
STEPH: First, we're going to take our top piece and put it in the top box.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides an end of the E.M.T. into an electrical box on a light above her.
STEPH: And then we slip it into our bottom box.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides the other end of the E.M.T. into another electrical box on a plywood wall next to an electrical panel. She grabs a cart with spools of different coloured electrical wire.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah. I got our T-90 wires, it's time to do the wiring. What I need you to do is take the white cable, the green and the black, tape them together, then you're gonna send them to me through the electrical panel in the E.M.T.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah nods. She tapes the ends of the white, green, and black wires together with electrical tape. She then slides the wires through an E.M.T., connecting the electrical panel to the electrical box.
STEPH: Perfect. I got it.
DESCRIPTION: Steph pulls the wires through the electrical box. Akeylah feeds her more wire from the spools as she sends the wires up the bent E.M.T. Steph tugs on the wires.
STEPH: We've reached our destination.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah squeezes wire cutters over the three wires.
STEPH: Come on now.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah cuts the wires. She watches Steph climb a stepladder to the other electrical box.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: After I cut the T-90 wires for inside the panel, it was time for Steph to step up once again and connect the wires to an outlet above the light.
DESCRIPTION: Above the light, Steph strips the ends of the wires.
AKEYLAH: Good luck up there.
STEPH: Alrighty.
DESCRIPTION: Steph wraps the stripped ends to screws in a power outlet. She screws the outlet to the electrical box and adds a cover. Akeylah gives Steph a thumbs up, and they meet by the electrical panel.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we've done the work all up top, it's time to focus on everything on the bottom. Pull the green and pull the white conductor.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah pulls on the green T-90 wire and the white T-10 wire from inside the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH: This way?
STEPH: That way.
DESCRIPTION: Steph feeds the wires through the E.M.T., connecting the electrical panel and the second electrical box. Akeylah cuts the black wire.
STEPH: Nice. We're going to take what we now call our switch line that goes up to the light, and we're going to attach that to the top screw.
DESCRIPTION: Steph screws the stripped ends of the black wire to a light switch.
STEPH: You're going to screw our switch down to our electrical box.
AKEYLAH: I can do that.
DESCRIPTION: Akelah screws the light switch to the electrical box. She watches Steph work in the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: Next, Steph connected our T-90 wires into the panel.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah high-five.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Step walk up to a cart with spools of thick wire.
AKEYLAH: These cables look heavy-duty.
STEPH: This is called A.C. 90. It has an aluminum sheath so that it can be installed in environments that cause mechanical damage. It's extra tough protection for the wires inside.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah grabs one of the heavy-duty wires.
AKEYLAH: Yep, this could keep out more than a mouse.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, you're gonna take the A.C. 90 and run it through the steel wall stud.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah feeds the A.C. 90 through holes in the steel wall studs in one of the training facility walls.
[Metal scraping]
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah stand by the electrical panel with the A.C. 90.
STEPH: Then we're gonna open up our conductors. So what we tend to do, little crack, take off the aluminum sheathing.
DESCRIPTION: Steph bends the A.C. 90. She cracks open the aluminum sheath, peels it off, and feeds the wires inside into the electrical panel.
STEPH: As I'm feeding it through, just guide the wires in towards the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH: I can do that.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah pulls the A.C. 90 wires into the electrical panel, and Steph screws them into place.
STEPH: And just like that, we're now tied into our electrical panel.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah share an explosive fist bump.
[Explosion echoing]
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the scissor lift, Akeylah wears her harness.
AKEYLAH: Something I learned today, there are all different types of wires, and being a construction and maintenance electrician means you've got to know them all. It had me wondering, how did electrical wiring get to this point?
[Lift beeping]
DESCRIPTION: The scissor lift starts to rise.
AKEYLAH: Oh, going up!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah crouches as the lift rises higher.
AKEYLAH: While I go up, why don't you get down with the history of electrical wiring?
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In black and white, Brody, with a moustache, wears a vest over a T-shirt.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: In the early days of electricity, a current was often transferred by bare copper wires, which were dangerous to touch.
DESCRIPTION: A wire sways side to side in front of Brody. Brody touches the wire and quickly pulls his hand away.
[Electricity zapping]
AKEYLAH NARRATING: There were no regulators, so electricity dimmed if there was too much demand.
DESCRIPTION: Brody shakes and blows on his hand. Brody, with a thick moustache, holds a cloth around the wire.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: In the late 1800s to early 1900s, knob and tube wiring was used. It was insulated by rubber cloth, which degraded over time.
DESCRIPTION: Brody, with a moustache and glasses, wears a lab coat and points to a lightning bolt drawing on a chalkboard.
AKEYLAH NARRATING It was during the 1940s that metal conduit began to be used to insulate electrical wiring. The first Canadian electrical code was published in 1927. Standardizing electrical safety, and it's been on the forefront of keeping Canadian electricians safe ever since.
DESCRIPTION: Brody writes on the chalkboard: Safe.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Steph and Akeylah walk up to the electrical panel.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we're all wired up, we're fully electrified. Are you ready to test our work?
DESCRIPTION: Steph flips switches in the electrical panel, then closes the door.
AKEYLAH: I'm ready, let's do it.
STEPH: All right, hit that switch!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah flips the light switch, and the light above turns on.
[Dinging]
AKEYLAH AND STEPH CHEERING: Yeah!
[Applause]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph high-five and dance.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Back in the Skills Space, Akeylah looks back as she walks over to the work table with the remote.
AKEYLAH: Thanks, Steph.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah joins Brody.
BRODY: Thanks to Steph's electrifying work, we were able to rig up our fan with more power.
AKEYLAH: It should make us fans of our fan. Brody, fire it up.
BRODY: Ok!
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips the switch on the remote.
[Fan whirring loudly]
DESCRIPTION: Strong wind blows Brody and Akeylah.
[Fan whirring loudly]
BRODY SHOUTING: Well, I think it works.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah nods. The strong wind blows papers off the work table.
BRODY SHOUTING: Maybe being a construction and maintenance electrician will wire your future for success.
AKEYLAH: If not, there are still so many other skilled trades that could wire your future and take you to the top.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Bye!
[Fan whirring loudly]
AKEYLAH: It works great.
[Fan whirring loudly]
BRODY: I'm late? For what?
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah shrugs.
[Cheerful music plays]
[End credits] Hosts: Akeylah James, Brody Agmon. Tradesperson: Stephanie McLean. Written and directed by Johnny Mitchell. Produced by Francis Mitchell, Johnny Mitchell, David Mitchell. Executive Producer Thomas Kritsch. Casting director Carly Granovsky. Education consultant Sara Fewson. Produced in association with t.v.o. kids. Logo: Riverbank Pictures. Copyright 2026 Riverbank Pictures.
Descriptive Transcript
[Bright music plays]
A child says, WHEE!
[Logo] “t.v.o kids original.” The animated multicoloured logo bounces onto a white background. The word "kids" has an eye in the orange letter "d" and a smile in the lime green letter "s".
[Child giggling]
[Upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Gears turn on a blueprint.
[Opening credits] T.V.O. kids presents.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah, a girl with long black hair in tight braids, is wearing a pink plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah stands beside Brody, a boy with short, curly brown hair wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: Welcome to Trading Skills!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody cross their arms and stand back to back.
AKEYLAH: The show where we take turns…
BRODY: …trying a skilled trade.
AKEYLAH: I'm Akeylah.
BRODY: I’m Brody.
AKEYLAH: A skilled trade is a job that requires a special skill.
DESCRIPTION: Videos show Akeylah and Brody trying different skilled trades. Brody examines a dog and controls an underwater remotely operated vehicle. Akeylah works in a recording studio and a salon and examines a car engine.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: There are lots of skill trades.
BRODY: And you might find the perfect trade for you!
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's a trade that could change your life.
BRODY: So come with us into the trades.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: On Trading Skills!
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle, funky music]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah joins Brody at the Skills Space work table. Brody wears a brown long-sleeved shirt. Akeylah wears a green and white striped collared shirt. Brody holds a remote. Akeylah sets down a screwdriver. Various tools hang on the back wall. An L.E.D. sign featuring a screwdriver and a wrench shines brightly in the space. Hard hats hang above.
AKEYLAH: All right, let's turn this thing on.
BRODY: Copy that. Get ready for wind like you've never...
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips a switch on the remote, and nothing happens. Brody and Akeylah frown and furrow their brows.
AKEYLAH: ...felt. Well, I'm not feeling it, so you're right.
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips the switch.
BRODY: We're trying to plan ahead for the summer when the skill space becomes the sizzle space.
AKEYLAH: It gets hot, so we're trying to rig up a fan worthy of the trades. We wanted a roar, but we got a whimper.
BRODY: We need to find a way to get more power, more electricity.
AKEYLAH: There's got to be something in here that can point us to the right trade.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Akeylah search the Skills Space.
[Whirring]
[Notification ding]
DESCRIPTION: Brody walks across the Skills Space with the Trades-A-Log book.
BRODY: Got something!
DESCRIPTION: Brody stands at the work table and reads from the book. Akeylah joins him.
BRODY: Construction and maintenance electricians install, repair, and maintain electrical systems in commercial and industrial settings, often powering big machines. There's a construction and maintenance electrician named Steph in Kitchener, Ontario.
DESCRIPTION: In a training facility, Construction and Maintenance Electrician Steph McLean turns away from an electrical panel and smiles. Steph wears her long dark hair in tight twists, tied back, a hard hat, safety glasses, a high-visibility long-sleeved shirt and work gloves.
AKEYLAH: That sounds like the upgrade we're looking for. I'm on it.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah leaves. Brody smiles and closes the Trades-A-Log book. He fans himself with the book.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: At a local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building, a Canadian flag flies.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: There was electricity in the air when I arrived at Local I.B.E.W. 804 Union Centre.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah walks through a warehouse space with rows of tables and electrical equipment, wearing her hair tied back and a faded purple plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah looks around, then waves.
AKEYLAH: Hi, Steph.
STEPH: Hi, Akeylah.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah high-five.
STEPH: Welcome to our training facility.
AKEYLAH: Thanks. I heard that construction and maintenance electricians could help Brody and I bring more power to the Skills Space.
STEPH: I could definitely help with that. We install and maintain electrical systems in all sorts of places that demand lots of electricity. The bigger, the better.
AKEYLAH: Do you ever rig up big fans?
DESCRIPTION: Steph looks over her shoulder and points to a large ceiling fan above.
STEPH: Is that big enough for you?
AKEYLAH: Yeah.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah grins.
STEPH: Ready to get to work?
AKEYLAH: Ready.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah follows Steph between rows of small rooms made out of plywood and past a whiteboard with schematics and notes. Akeylah wears a hard hat, safety glasses and work gloves. Steph points to racks storing narrow metal pipes.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is E.M.T.
AKEYLAH: Extremely major tubing?
STEPH: Electrical metallic tubing. It's a conduit. The E.M.T. is used to protect the wires inside of it from the elements, the environment, rodents, or whatever else could damage it.
AKEYLAH: So, what do we do with the E.M.T?
STEPH: We bend the pipe depending on where we need to send the wires through a building.
AKEYLAH: You need to bend it to send it.
STEPH: That's right. Let's grab this half-inch piece of E.M.T.
DESCRIPTION: Steph pulls one of the metal pipes, an E.M.T., off a rack.
STEPH: You can carry this one.
AKEYLAH: Yep.
STEPH: I'll grab the inch and a quarter.
DESCRIPTION: Steph grabs another, larger E.M.T.
STEPH: Let's go.
DESCRIPTION: Steph carries the larger E.M.T. on her shoulder and walks between the plywood rooms. Akeylah starts to follow, then pauses and tries to bend her smaller E.M.T. with no success.
[Akeylah grunting]
AKEYLAH: I hope there's an easier way.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Akeylah glances at a wall of electrical panels.
STEPH: I'm going to set mine down here. Akeylah, you can put yours on the table.
AKEYLAH: Ok.
DESCRIPTION: Steph sets her E.M.T. down on a wide cupboard. Akeylah sets hers down on a table next to a large tool.
STEPH: And based on the size of the conduit, we could either use a hand bender or an electronic motorized automatic bender.
DESCRIPTION: Steph looks from the hand bender on the table to the E.M.T. beside it.
STEPH: This right here is a half-inch E.M.T., so we could use the hand bender. So we're making a 90-degree angle. We're gonna mark it at 29, and we need to minus five, giving us a mark at 24. Do you wanna mark 24 there?
DESCRIPTION: Steph measures 29 inches on the E.M.T. with a measuring tape, then marks it with a pencil. Akeylah marks 24 inches.
STEPH: That's right. We're gonna slide the E.M.T. into the hand bender on this mark right here. You wanna flip the bender onto the floor.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides the E.M.T. into a holding clamp on the hand bender. She lines up the markings on both and then flips the E.M.T. onto the floor.
STEPH: So you put your foot on the foot pedal, and then you're gonna pull back as much as you can on this handle.
DESCRIPTION: Steph rests her foot on the raised pedal.
STEPH: Ready to give it a try?
AKEYLAH: Sure!
STEPH: Let's do this.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes Steph’s place. She rests her foot on the pedal and pulls on the handle of the hand bender.
AKEYLAH: Ok.
STEPH: Pull!
DESCRIPTION: The E.M.T. starts to bend.
STEPH: Yeah, it's going. Yeah!
[Steph clapping]
[Akeylah grunting]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah relaxes her hold.
AKEYLAH: How much more?
STEPH: I'll take it over from here.
DESCRIPTION: Steph takes Akeyla’s place. Steph steps on the pedal and bends the E.M.T. to a 90-degree angle.
STEPH: And then we get our level to check how straight our 90 is.
DESCRIPTION: Steph holds a level against the E.M.T. Akeylah kneels and checks the level.
AKEYLAH: It looks level to me.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah walks alongside Steph as Steph carries the larger E.M.T. on her shoulder.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: After manually bending the E.M.T., we clocked back in to use something more powerful.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeyah walk over to a machine with different holding clamps in a circular device and numbers marked around it.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is a clock bender. So what we're gonna do here, I'm gonna feed in our inch and a quarter conduit. You're gonna hold on to our controller and bend. We're gonna start to dial in our E.M.T. to this mark. We're looking for a 95, for the simple fact there's a little bit of spring back, so we gotta bend over our 90.
DESCRIPTION: Steph hands Akeylah the clock bender controls.
STEPH: Here you are.
AKEYLAH: Thank you.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides her E.M.T into a holding clamp on the clock bender.
STEPH: Feed it into our clock bender. Should be enough. Take it away, Akeylah.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah turns on the clock bender. The circular device rotates clockwise and starts to bend the E.M.T.
[Clock bender whirring]
AKEYLAH: Oh. That's much easier.
[Clock bender whirring]
STEPH: All right, you're going to stop now.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah stops the machine as an arrow on the rotating device passes the 90-degree mark.
STEPH: Perfect. You could just go ahead and press unload.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah presses the unload button on the control, and the circular device slowly rotates counterclockwise.
[Clock bender whirring]
STEPH: There you go.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah stops the clock bender, and Steph pulls out the E.M.T.
AKELAH: Wow.
STEPH: There you have it.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at the 90-degree bend in the E.M.T.
AKEYLAH: I'll tell people I did that by hand.
STEPH: Your secret is safe with me.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph walk through the training facility wearing safety harnesses that go over their shoulders, down their chests and around their thighs.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: When you work in big places like Steph does, a simple ladder doesn't always help you hit the right height. That's when you bring in the heavy equipment.
DESCRIPTION: Steph leads Akeylah over to a lift.
STEPH: Akeylah, this is our scissor lift. Are you ready to go up?
AKEYLAH: I am.
STEPH: All right, let's go.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah climb onto the scissor lift, then hook each other to the lift through d-rings on the backs of their harnesses. Steph grabs the joystick controls and raises the lift.
[Lift beeping]
STEPH: Hang on!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks toward the ceiling, then all around her and slowly smiles. She looks over the railing of the lift, and her smile slips.
AKEYLAH: Whoa.
[Lift beeping]
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah reach the ceiling. Akeylah turns toward the large fan.
AKEYLAH: Oh, there's the fan. That's what we need in the skill space. Sometimes you gotta think big in the skill trades.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah spreads her arms.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
AKEYLAH NARRATING: Back on Earth, we took a break so I could hear Steph's electric origin story.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph sit at one of the tables with their hard hats and work gloves set aside.
AKEYLAH: Steph, what was the conduit to you becoming a construction and maintenance electrician?
STEPH: Well, Akeylah, it started when I was working at a restaurant. One of my friends suggested that I get into the trades. She said to look into H-VAC, electrical, or plumbing. So I researched all three of those trades and gravitated straight towards electrical. I would have job sustainability and stability until I wanted to retire. And there's a vast amount of pathways within the electrical industry that I could choose from. So I would never get bored.
AKEYLAH: Now that you're an electrician, is it everything you hoped for?
STEPH: Akeylah, it's everything I hoped for and more. The learning is continuous. So a girl like me that gets bored quickly, can never get bored. My interest is always electrified.
AKEYLAH: So inspiring. If someone like me were to be interested in your trade, what advice would you give them?
STEPH: From the get-go, I would say if you believe that you could do it, you could definitely do it. It's important to always remember why you wanted to be a tradesperson. So when the days get hard, remember your why, and that will help you push forward.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Akeylah and Steph walk between the plywood rooms in their safety gear. Steph carries the smaller E.M.T.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we've bent our E.M.T., it's time to wire it up.
AKEYLAH: Ok, what's the first step?
STEPH: First, we're going to take our top piece and put it in the top box.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides an end of the E.M.T. into an electrical box on a light above her.
STEPH: And then we slip it into our bottom box.
DESCRIPTION: Steph slides the other end of the E.M.T. into another electrical box on a plywood wall next to an electrical panel. She grabs a cart with spools of different coloured electrical wire.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah. I got our T-90 wires, it's time to do the wiring. What I need you to do is take the white cable, the green and the black, tape them together, then you're gonna send them to me through the electrical panel in the E.M.T.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah nods. She tapes the ends of the white, green, and black wires together with electrical tape. She then slides the wires through an E.M.T., connecting the electrical panel to the electrical box.
STEPH: Perfect. I got it.
DESCRIPTION: Steph pulls the wires through the electrical box. Akeylah feeds her more wire from the spools as she sends the wires up the bent E.M.T. Steph tugs on the wires.
STEPH: We've reached our destination.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah squeezes wire cutters over the three wires.
STEPH: Come on now.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah cuts the wires. She watches Steph climb a stepladder to the other electrical box.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: After I cut the T-90 wires for inside the panel, it was time for Steph to step up once again and connect the wires to an outlet above the light.
DESCRIPTION: Above the light, Steph strips the ends of the wires.
AKEYLAH: Good luck up there.
STEPH: Alrighty.
DESCRIPTION: Steph wraps the stripped ends to screws in a power outlet. She screws the outlet to the electrical box and adds a cover. Akeylah gives Steph a thumbs up, and they meet by the electrical panel.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we've done the work all up top, it's time to focus on everything on the bottom. Pull the green and pull the white conductor.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah pulls on the green T-90 wire and the white T-10 wire from inside the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH: This way?
STEPH: That way.
DESCRIPTION: Steph feeds the wires through the E.M.T., connecting the electrical panel and the second electrical box. Akeylah cuts the black wire.
STEPH: Nice. We're going to take what we now call our switch line that goes up to the light, and we're going to attach that to the top screw.
DESCRIPTION: Steph screws the stripped ends of the black wire to a light switch.
STEPH: You're going to screw our switch down to our electrical box.
AKEYLAH: I can do that.
DESCRIPTION: Akelah screws the light switch to the electrical box. She watches Steph work in the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: Next, Steph connected our T-90 wires into the panel.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah high-five.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Step walk up to a cart with spools of thick wire.
AKEYLAH: These cables look heavy-duty.
STEPH: This is called A.C. 90. It has an aluminum sheath so that it can be installed in environments that cause mechanical damage. It's extra tough protection for the wires inside.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah grabs one of the heavy-duty wires.
AKEYLAH: Yep, this could keep out more than a mouse.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, you're gonna take the A.C. 90 and run it through the steel wall stud.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah feeds the A.C. 90 through holes in the steel wall studs in one of the training facility walls.
[Metal scraping]
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah stand by the electrical panel with the A.C. 90.
STEPH: Then we're gonna open up our conductors. So what we tend to do, little crack, take off the aluminum sheathing.
DESCRIPTION: Steph bends the A.C. 90. She cracks open the aluminum sheath, peels it off, and feeds the wires inside into the electrical panel.
STEPH: As I'm feeding it through, just guide the wires in towards the electrical panel.
AKEYLAH: I can do that.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah pulls the A.C. 90 wires into the electrical panel, and Steph screws them into place.
STEPH: And just like that, we're now tied into our electrical panel.
DESCRIPTION: Steph and Akeylah share an explosive fist bump.
[Explosion echoing]
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the scissor lift, Akeylah wears her harness.
AKEYLAH: Something I learned today, there are all different types of wires, and being a construction and maintenance electrician means you've got to know them all. It had me wondering, how did electrical wiring get to this point?
[Lift beeping]
DESCRIPTION: The scissor lift starts to rise.
AKEYLAH: Oh, going up!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah crouches as the lift rises higher.
AKEYLAH: While I go up, why don't you get down with the history of electrical wiring?
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In black and white, Brody, with a moustache, wears a vest over a T-shirt.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: In the early days of electricity, a current was often transferred by bare copper wires, which were dangerous to touch.
DESCRIPTION: A wire sways side to side in front of Brody. Brody touches the wire and quickly pulls his hand away.
[Electricity zapping]
AKEYLAH NARRATING: There were no regulators, so electricity dimmed if there was too much demand.
DESCRIPTION: Brody shakes and blows on his hand. Brody, with a thick moustache, holds a cloth around the wire.
AKEYLAH NARRATING: In the late 1800s to early 1900s, knob and tube wiring was used. It was insulated by rubber cloth, which degraded over time.
DESCRIPTION: Brody, with a moustache and glasses, wears a lab coat and points to a lightning bolt drawing on a chalkboard.
AKEYLAH NARRATING It was during the 1940s that metal conduit began to be used to insulate electrical wiring. The first Canadian electrical code was published in 1927. Standardizing electrical safety, and it's been on the forefront of keeping Canadian electricians safe ever since.
DESCRIPTION: Brody writes on the chalkboard: Safe.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the training facility, Steph and Akeylah walk up to the electrical panel.
STEPH: All right, Akeylah, now that we're all wired up, we're fully electrified. Are you ready to test our work?
DESCRIPTION: Steph flips switches in the electrical panel, then closes the door.
AKEYLAH: I'm ready, let's do it.
STEPH: All right, hit that switch!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah flips the light switch, and the light above turns on.
[Dinging]
AKEYLAH AND STEPH CHEERING: Yeah!
[Applause]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Steph high-five and dance.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Back in the Skills Space, Akeylah looks back as she walks over to the work table with the remote.
AKEYLAH: Thanks, Steph.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah joins Brody.
BRODY: Thanks to Steph's electrifying work, we were able to rig up our fan with more power.
AKEYLAH: It should make us fans of our fan. Brody, fire it up.
BRODY: Ok!
DESCRIPTION: Brody flips the switch on the remote.
[Fan whirring loudly]
DESCRIPTION: Strong wind blows Brody and Akeylah.
[Fan whirring loudly]
BRODY SHOUTING: Well, I think it works.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah nods. The strong wind blows papers off the work table.
BRODY SHOUTING: Maybe being a construction and maintenance electrician will wire your future for success.
AKEYLAH: If not, there are still so many other skilled trades that could wire your future and take you to the top.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Bye!
[Fan whirring loudly]
AKEYLAH: It works great.
[Fan whirring loudly]
BRODY: I'm late? For what?
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah shrugs.
[Cheerful music plays]
[End credits] Hosts: Akeylah James, Brody Agmon. Tradesperson: Stephanie McLean. Written and directed by Johnny Mitchell. Produced by Francis Mitchell, Johnny Mitchell, David Mitchell. Executive Producer Thomas Kritsch. Casting director Carly Granovsky. Education consultant Sara Fewson. Produced in association with t.v.o. kids. Logo: Riverbank Pictures. Copyright 2026 Riverbank Pictures.
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