The federal government has announced more than $7 million for 29 union-run trades-training projects.

Irek Kusmierczyk, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, announced the funding at the Canada's Building Trades Unions Annual Conference in Ottawa on April 26.

The projects will help unions improve the quality of training through investments in equipment and materials leading to a more skilled, inclusive, certified and productive trades workforce.

"Canada needs more skilled trades workers—to build our homes, to engineer new, sustainable solutions, and so much more,” said Irek Kusmierczyk, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. “That's exactly why we're investing in our unions and trade workers across Canada. When someone wants to become a carpenter, or a welder, or a contractor, we want to make sure they have the training they need, wherever they are, to do it."

Of the funded projects, 11 are in Ontario.

Funding ranges in value from $227,000 to $8,700, and cover a wide range of topics, including new industry standards for GPS Surveying technology, training for electricians, ironworkers, painters and labourers, safety training on swing stages, measures to address labour shortages, and new infectious Control Risk Assessment standards for carpenters.

The money is being provided through Stream 1 of the Union Training and Innovation Program UTIP), and supplements a series of measures the government made in its 2022 budget. The budget sees the federal government create a new tax deduction for workers and apprentices who travel for work, and double funding for its UTIP to help apprentices from under-represented groups start careers in the skilled trades through mentorship, career services and job matching.

The budget also contained measures to help apprentices from under-represented groups—including women, newcomers, persons with disabilities, Indigenous people, and racialized Canadians—find careers in the skilled trades through mentorship, career services and job matching.

It also proposes to launch a new union-led advisory table that brings together unions and trade associations to advise the government on priority investments to help workers navigate the changing labour market with a particular focus on skilled mid-career workers in at-risk sectors and jobs.

"Canada's Building Trades Unions applauds the Government of Canada for its support for skilled trades workers in Budget 2022,” said Sean Strickland, executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions. “The labour mobility tax deduction for tradespeople is something we have advocated for for over two decades. It will support working Canadians and families to travel to where the work is, helping to address labour availability across the country. The doubling of the Union Training and Innovation Program—which has already been immensely helpful in its first few years of operations—further supports training and education, ensuring we are able to deliver the workforce of tomorrow.”