Ontario invests $8M in skilled trades training

Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development was in Greater Sudbury Thursday to dole out $8 million for the sixth round of the Skills Development Fund. It’s meant to help train workers with will fill high-demand skilled labour jobs.

Kiana-Lee Roy, 18, is the youngest graduate of Community Builders. Before she introduced Minister David Paccini, she attributed Community Builders to help her become gainfully employed and instill confidence in her future.

“Community Builders showed me that there’s a place for young women in the trades and gave me the confidence to pursue that dream,” she said.

“The program taught me how to safely use hand and power tools, but it also taught me so much more,” she added.

The three training projects to get funding are:

• Community Builders: $1.9 million to help 189 individuals facing barriers to employment prepare for careers in the skilled trades.
• Niiwin Wendaanimok LP: $1.9 million to train 100 Indigenous participants from four Treaty #3 communities. Participants will receive technical training in construction on Highway 17, along with financial literacy, leadership development and job readiness supports.
• Wahkohtowin: $703,234 to provide 60 participants from across Northern Ontario with Indigenous-led, employer-aligned jobs and retention training, mentorship and industry connections to build meaningful careers in environmental monitoring.

The fund is also providing $3.2 million to Science North to establish a training centre at Dynamic Earth. That will help train 7,000 individuals yearly in mining, construction and other sectors.

At the news conference on June 4, Piccini told the crowd at Community Builders site in Sudbury that the last round of the funding stream helped 14,000 people access training.

“Those are numbers, but it’s measured by stories like Kiana’s where we’re helping people find those meaningful jobs and recognizing that when it comes to training, if we can bring that training closer to home, partner with social enterprises like this,” he said.

Community Builders is a social enterprise that has existed for 10 years – it has four sites in Barrie, Muskoka, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury.

Individuals who face employment barriers can take part in a 12-week paid program that trains them for jobs in skilled trades.

“We may be building construction but that’s a vehicle to change people’s lives through employment,” Founder and CEO, Brandon Day told CTV News.

“Opportunities are what we like to hand out, and we have about an 89-90 percent rate of full-time employment for those graduating our of our program,” Day said.

“We’re facing growing demand for skilled workers, particularly in industries that are essential to building our province, including, as I mentioned, infrastructure, mining and advanced manufacturing,” Piccini said.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre was at the news conference and said the city is experiencing unprecedented economic opportunities across mining, construction and infrastructure development.

“To fully realize that potential, we need a strong pipeline of skilled workers and this investment from the province will help more people access the training needed to fill in-demand jobs and ensure our community is ready to seize the opportunities ahead,” he said.

“This investment is about building a stronger workforce today, while ensuring Ontario has the talent to deliver the major infrastructure and economic growth projects of tomorrow,” Piccini said.