Province invests in free trades training for high-school students
The Ontario government is continuing its push to bring more young people into the skilled trades.
On June 3, the province announced funding of nearly $440,000 that would be put towards a new program to help more than 2,000 high-school students learn more about careers in the skilled trades and technology sectors. The project, which is being led by not-for-profit Junior Achievement (JA), will help local communities address shortages of workers in jobs like electrician, plumber, carpenter, computer analyst and software developer.
“There are exciting skilled trades and technology careers waiting for young people today and will be even more as current workers retire in the years to come,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. “This investment is part of our strategy to break the stigma that still surrounds working in the skilled trades. We need to show students and their parents that becoming a tradesperson – a carpenter, a plumber or an electrician – can be as fulfilling as becoming a doctor, lawyer or an engineer.”
Free activities and events will be offered virtually and in-person for high school students aged 15 to 18, including. They include a province-wide virtual fair planned for October where students will learn about skilled trades and technology careers, a 50-hour training program from July 2021 to March 2022 for 800 students to acquire technical skills that help prepare them to succeed in these sought after professions, and a province-wide virtual event in March 2022 for hundreds of youth to demonstrate their new skills and connect with local industry mentors.
The province has said that 50 percent of students participating in the program will come from underrepresented groups including women, people with disabilities, and racialized groups.
“From a modernized math curriculum that focuses on job and life skills, to mandatory learning on financial literacy and coding, our focus remains on giving young people the tools to succeed,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce. “Our continued investments in the skilled trades, coupled with real-world learning, will ensure more young people enter and succeed in these dignified, well-paid, and often entrepreneurial vocations.”
The province’s investment in the program is part of its $115-million Skills Development Fund.
“Junior Achievement in Ontario welcomes the support of the Skills Development Fund for JA’s Building a Stronger Future initiative – a youth entrepreneurship program specializing in the trades and technology sectors,” said Jennifer Holmes Weier, President and CEO at JA Central Ontario. “In partnership with JA charters across Ontario, this initiative will leverage JA’s signature Company Program, teaching high school students to think like entrepreneurs, learn essential skills, support their employability, and inspire them to consider careers in the trades and technology sectors.”
Anyone interested in the program can contact info@jacentralontario.org for more information.