Province commits to building three Trades & Tech Trucks
The Ontario government has committed $5.4 million to design and build three mobile tech classrooms that will travel across the province and teach students and young people about the skilled trades.
The classrooms, which are being built and will be operated by Skills Ontario, will feature hands-on learning stations and simulators for electrical systems, welding, crane operation, auto-painting, tire and brake work, heavy machinery and more.
Over three years, they will let nearly half a million people explore the skilled trades and will help tackle the labour shortage the province faces in a critical industry.
“By 2025, one in five jobs in Ontario will be in the skilled trades. These are rewarding, well-paying careers that you can build a family and a life around,” said Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Minister Monte McNaughton. “That’s why our government will continue to invest in cutting-edge programs that give students the chance to experience the 144 trades and life-changing opportunities available to them.”
The province says Ontario employers will need to recruit more than 100,000 new skilled trades workers this decade.
The 12-metre-long Trades & Tech Trucks will travel across the province, providing students an opportunity to explore the skilled trades and speak with industry members, while learning about local training opportunities, colleges and employers.
“Since rolling out our first Trades & Tech truck last year, our mobile classroom has provided thousands of students with hands-on learning experiences,” said Ian Howcroft, CEO of Skills Ontario. “This program ignites an awareness of opportunities in the skilled trades and tech field that inspires more young people to pursue these careers.”
The province helped launch the Trades & Tech Truck pilot program in 2022. The first truck reached over 40,000 students and young people, visiting more than 50 events across the province from Toronto to Ottawa and Thunder Bay.
The new mobile classrooms will be fully operational by the summer of 2024 and will accommodate 150,000 visitors a year.
This project is funded through the government’s Skills Development Fund, an over $700 million initiative, which supports ground-breaking programs that connect jobseekers with the skills and training they need to find well-paying careers close to home.
Through its first three funding rounds, the Skills Development Fund has supported 596 projects, to help over half a million people around the province take the next step in their careers.
The Ontario government launched the new $224 million capital stream for the Skills Development Fund on June 30 to support the building of new training centres and the renovation or expansion of existing ones.