After dismantling the Ontario College of Trades three and a half years ago, the Ontario government has introduced its replacement agency.

Labour, Training and Skills Development Minister Monte McNaughton announced the launch of Skilled Trades Ontario on January 25. The new agency, says the province, has been created to improve training and simplify services for workers across Ontario’s 144 trades.

It supports the province in its efforts to bring more people, and more young people in particular, into the skilled trades. This comes at a time when the province expects the number of vacant jobs in the skilled trades will reach 350,000 by 2025—or about one in five Ontario jobs.

The new agency will promote and market the trades, develop training and curriculum standards, and provide a streamlined user-friendly experience for tradespeople.

In particular, new online services have been created to help apprentices manage their careers in one place with an online one-stop-shop for scheduling classes and exams, submitting forms, paying fees and more. These changes are expected to make it easier for more people to learn about and enter the trades, and reduce processing and registration times for applicants from 60 days to 12.

The previous system required prospective tradespeople to mail documents to offices for one service, call in for a second and appear in person for a third. The system, says the province, was confusing and prevented many apprentices from pursuing their interests.

“We’re redrawing the system to address Ontario’s labour shortage and make the trades a career of choice for more people,” said McNaughton. “By creating this new agency, we are working for workers and delivering the generational change that labour leaders and employers have been calling for.”

Indeed, the new agency has received the support from such trades groups as the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Council of Ontario (IBEW CCO), the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), and the Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance (OSTA).

Representatives from some of those organizations have already been named to the OSTA board of directors.

Chairing the board is employment and labour lawyer Michael Sherrard. Joining him are:

• James Barry, the executive secretary treasurer of IBEW CCO,
• John Breslin, the Skilled Trades National Director at Unifor,
• Lindsay Engel, the Dean of Applied Science and Technology at Sheridan College,
• Michael Gallardo, the president and CEO of Merit OpenShop Contractors Association of Ontario,
• Lee Greenberg, a Principal at Toronto-based public affairs firm Policy Concepts Inc.,
• Ron Kelusky, Ontario’s former Chief Prevention Officer,
• Jason Ottey, the director of government relations and communications for LiUNA,
• Kenneth Scott Player, a former financial executive,
• Karen Renkema-Millar, the Ontario Vice President of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada, and
• Christine Wellenreiter, the director of strategy and market support for Canada Life.

Melissa Young, the former chair of the OSTA, will serve as Chief Executive Officer and Registrar for the new provincial Crown agency.

“The creation of Skilled Trades Ontario is an important milestone, and one I am thrilled to be a part of leading,” said Sherrard. “The implementation of a successful apprenticeship and skilled trades system is critical to the economic growth and success of our province, and today’s announcement is the next step in securing that future for us all.”

More information about the agency is available at www.skilledtradesontario.ca.