The Ontario government announced more than $900,000 worth of funding to support six training programs at Lambton College in Sarnia on January 27.

The investment will help to train nearly 400 students in a variety of disciplines, including the college’s newly accredited construction boilermaker apprenticeship program.

"People in Sarnia and the surrounding region should take note. There is demand here for welders, millwrights, steamfitters, concrete finishers and boilermakers," said Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. "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 programs being funded under the announcement 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, and
• construction boilermaker, receiving funding to train 24 apprentices.

McNaughton made the announcement at Lambton College to an audience of educators, administrators and boilermaker apprentices—one of the province’s high-demand trades. He also announced that the college has been approved as a new provider for construction boilermaker training.

“The minister’s announcement means Lambton College will provide training in the much-needed boilermaker construction trade, preparing our students for rewarding careers, in our community and throughout the province,” said Judith Morris, president and CEO of Lambton College. “By offering this program, it will strengthen our economy and workforce.”

Boilermakers are particularly in demand in southwestern Ontario’s petrochemical and nuclear industries. The workers build, install, maintain and repair boilers, tanks and pressure vessels in residential and industrial settings.

The 2018 Ontario Auditor General’s Annual Report indicated that between 2021 and 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. About 40 percent of current boilermakers are expected to retire in the next few years.

The province recently announced an investment of $20.8 million into its pre-apprenticeship program to help introduce and provide free pre-trades training to over 1,800 people. It 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.

“Ontario’s investments in apprenticeship training at colleges are an essential part of the effort to produce a more highly qualified workforce,” said Linda Franklin, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. “We’re pleased to work with the government to promote the great careers in the skilled trades.”