Ontario Construction News staff writer
In what some people might call a disconnect, there are good-paying jobs in Ontario that aren’t being filled because of a shortage of skilled labour.
Monte McNaughton, the province’s Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, was at Lambton College in Sarnia on Monday, making an announcement aimed at aligning available work with workers skilled to do the job.
“People in Sarnia and the surrounding region should take note. There is demand here for welders, millwrights, steamfitters, concrete finishers and boilermakers,” he said. “These are exciting, fulfilling and often well-paying careers. They are for people who want challenging, hands-on work that provides security, advancement and freedom to travel or become an entrepreneur.”
The minister not only arrived with that information, he brought along an investment of $926,416 for this fiscal year to boost skills training for careers in the local petrochemical, nuclear and other local sectors.
“Ontario is facing a looming problem. Our skilled tradespeople are retiring faster than we can replace them. The funding for this new program will help alleviate the strain our trades sector is experiencing and keep Ontario Open for Business and Open for Jobs.”
The investment will go towards supporting more than 380 students in Lambton College’s six in-class training programs, including its newly accredited construction boilermaker apprenticeship program. Those programs are:
- Instrumentation and Control Technician, receiving funding to train 37 apprentices
- General carpenter, receiving funding to train 112 apprentices
- Steamfitter, receiving funding to train 102 apprentices
- Construction maintenance electrician, receiving funding to train 94 apprentices
- Welder, receiving funding to train 17 apprentices
- Construction boilermaker, receiving funding to train 24 apprentices.
The announcement of the funding was made before an audience of educators, administrators and boilermaker apprentices, one of Ontario’s high-demand trades. The college, he added, has been designated a new provider for construction boilermaker training. The announcement comes amid a government marketing campaign highlighting the skilled trades as a viable career path. The ads, which use the slogan ‘Find a Career You Wouldn’t Trade,’ are currently running online, in movie theatres and on Tim Hortons TV.
Quick facts about work in the trades:
- Boilermakers build, install, maintain and repair boilers, tanks and pressure vessels in residential and industrial settings, including the local petrochemical industry in southwestern Ontario and at the province’s two nuclear generating stations. These tradespeople make up just one part of the province’s booming construction sector, and up to 40 per cent of current boilermakers are expected to retire in the next few years
- The 2018 Ontario Auditor General’s Annual Report stated that between 2021-2025 Ontario will require 1,000 boilermakers for the refurbishment of Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station and Bruce Power’s Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, two of the biggest infrastructure projects in Canada
- Ontario recently announced a historic investment of $20.8 million into its Pre-Apprenticeship Program, an increase of $5 million from the previous year, to help introduce and provide free pre-trades training to over 1,800 people. Training is delivered by Ontario colleges, private career colleges, union and non-union training centres and other community organizations. To find out about programs in your area, contact Employment Ontario by phone, e-mail or live chat
- Ontario also recently announced $12.7 million in funding for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, aimed at encouraging more high school students to consider the skilled trades as a viable career.