Windsor-Essex residents considering a career in the trades will now be helped along with funding from the provincial government.
Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie was at the UHC Hub of Opportunities Friday morning to announce a $2.3-million investment for pre-apprenticeship training, to help residents prepare for careers in high-demand jobs such as the industrial trades.
The project will be conducted by the Hub of Opportunities, along with Women's Enterprise Skills Training (WEST) of Windsor, St. Clair College, and LiUNA Local 625.
Dowie told WindsorNewsToday.ca that the funding will make it easier for those interested in the trades to get the skills needed to succeed.
"This is a provincial program that funds the training to be equipped with those skills, so there's no cost to the participants in these programs," said Dowie. "They just need to register, and they will be up-skilled in the various sectors."
The total announced Friday is being split among the four institutions. A $836,000 portion is split between three projects at St. Clair College, $792,650 will go to the LiUNA training centre in Tecumseh, $374,976 to the UHB Hub, and the rest to WEST.
"It's also part of the three-year program that we've got with the Ministry of Labour, as well to help invest in these programs as well as update training facilities," said Dowie.
The commitment to upgrade facilities involved a $224-million investment. The three-year program is supported by $1.5-billion in the Skilled Trades Strategy.
Ontario continues to see its biggest labour shortage in roughly 20 years. The first quarter of 2023 had 300,000 unfilled jobs in the province, the majority in the skilled trades. One in five new jobs in Ontario in 2026 will involve a trade.
The Ministry of Labour had been addressing older tradespeople retiring or leaving the business, and their children seeking employment in other fields. Incentives and enhanced training have been offered to young people, with women and people of colour also encouraged to enter the trades.
LiUNA Local 625 Training Director Carmelo Calcara said in a media release that its pre-apprenticeship uptake is increasing. The first of two cohorts, consisting of 18 graduates, completed ten weeks of training earlier this month and have been placed with contractors for 12 weeks of paid field training.
