A local autobody painter has just a few more weeks to prepare for an international skills competition in Shanghai. Anika Jones qualified for WorldSkills 2026 – the “Olympics” of trades and technologies – with a second-place finish in car painting at the national competition in May 2025. Since then, the 22-year-old has been honing her craft for the tests she’ll face in China in September. “(The judges) get very picky and they’re very detail oriented, so you’ve got to be careful with what you’re doing,” Jones told CTV News Edmonton during an interview on Tuesday. Jones chose her Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) instructor, Cecile Bukmeier, as her official competition trainer. But during the competition, Bukmeier will serve as a judge, having helped develop the judging standards as an industry expert. “We’re getting close to WorldSkills, so it is to be expected that they’re not beginning anymore; they’re at that higher level,” Bukmeier, who is also NAIT’s autobody chair, said. Jones isn’t training alone this week; NAIT invited Germany for a friendly competition that mimics aspects of international competition, like jet lag and alternate materials and methods. “It’s really cool to see the different ways they do their work and just how different you can be with everything you’re doing in this trade,” Jones said of working alongside the German team. “It’s chaotic, but it’s really good just to gauge who I’m competing against and where the skills will be at the WorldSkils challenge.” On Tuesday, they were painting a damaged vehicle hood, which required repairing the blemish and preparing the surface for paint. “I’m happy that I’m here in Canada. I think it is very good for the experience,” said Germany’s Noah Seile. “Here’s the other training area and other tools… that help me to know how it’s painted in Canada, in China, in Germany.” About 70 countries will be represented in WorldSkills 2026 in about as many skills, from plumbing, welding and carpentry, to cloud computing. Altogether, Alberta will be sending 12 competitors in aerospace technology, automobile technology, cabinet making, car painting, carpentry, computer numerical control machining, electrical installations, heavy vehicle technology, industrial mechanics, plumbing, web technologies and welding. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson
