Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Ontario government is investing over $364,000 to help 100 journeypersons and apprentices in Sarnia and southwestern Ontario upgrade their skills in millwrighting.
Led by Millwright Local 1592, the funding will also help businesses find skilled workers to build and maintain the hospitals, schools, automotive plants, and other historic infrastructure investments coming to the region.
“When you have a career in the skilled trades, you have a career for life,” said Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development. “Working with our union partners, our government is proud to invest in innovative training programs to ensure hard-working men and women have the skills they need to land better jobs and help build our province.”
Millwright Local 1592, one of eight in Ontario is located in Sarnia and serves Lambton, Middlesex, Oxford, Huron, Perth and Bruce Counties. Through its first three funding rounds, the Skills Development Fund has supported 596 projects, to help almost 522,000 people around the province take the next step in their careers.
Participants will be trained and certified on four pieces of equipment including boom lifts and elevating work platforms, forklifts, telehandlers, and scissor lifts. They will also get help with technical skilling and employment support so they can progress in their careers and meet the needs of local employers.
“This is another important investment by our government in the future of Sarnia-Lambton and the highly skilled workforce in our community,” said Bob Bailey, MPP for Sarnia-Lambton. “This investment will help more workers in Sarnia-Lambton launch good-paying, in-demand careers in the skilled trades.”
The investment will also help increase training opportunities at Local 1592 in Sarnia for decades to come and allow them to incorporate new, state-of-the-art equipment into their training curriculum.
“Local 1592 and its members will benefit from the Skills Development Fund Project which will allow us to expand our training opportunities at UBC Millwright Local 1592’s Training Centre in Sarnia,” said Steve Laur, business manager at Millwright Local 1592. “Minister McNaughton continues to demonstrate and support the importance of the Skilled Trades in Ontario. He understands the direct benefit of skills training and the employability of our members in building our great province.”
The project is funded through the government’s Skills Development Fund, an over $700 million initiative, which supports ground-breaking programs that connect jobseekers with the skills and training they need to find well-paying careers close to home.
Ontario’s Skills Development Fund is supported through labour market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.