The governments of Ontario and Nova Scotia signed a memorandum of understanding to improve interprovincial mobility for skilled tradespeople, including post-journeyperson certification.

Ontario is seeking new ways to improve the labour supply and create the opportunity for qualified skilled tradespeople to become certified in Ontario and address labour shortages. At the same time, Nova Scotia aims to create a competitive workforce by opening up pathways into trades for more apprentices and removing barriers for credential recognition to meet labour market demands.

“Our government has an ambitious plan to build the highways, hospitals, and homes our growing communities need, which means we need to create more pathways for apprentices and journeypersons who will help us build Ontario,” said David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “Building on the success of our MOU with the Government of Alberta last month, we’re excited to partner with Nova Scotia to improve interprovincial mobility for skilled tradespeople and explore new opportunities with the Atlantic provinces. This will help fill in-demand jobs across both provinces and support our mutual goals of building stronger communities.”

Ontario’s agreement with Nova Scotia builds on a similar arrangement the province signed with Alberta in July to collaborate on growing the skilled trades and remove barriers for the flow of labour between these two jurisdictions, complementing ongoing work to harmonize Red Seal trades nationally.

"The need for qualified skilled trades professionals is more critical now than ever before and this MOU will support a growing labour market and foster a competitive workforce,” said Melissa Young, the CEO of Skilled Trades Ontario. “The new MOU is reflective of our agency’s ongoing efforts to align Ontario’s apprenticeship programs with Red Seal trades across Canada."

Ontario is also working with the governments of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to exchange ideas on removing interprovincial barriers in the skilled trades.

The memorandum of understanding between Ontario and Nova Scotia will be reviewed in 18 months.