Recent projections estimate about 700,000 skilled trades workers are expected to retire between 2019 and 2028 in Canada, creating an ever-growing gap in the crucial work that tradespeople do.
In Ontario alone, the expected gap is estimated to be 350,000 jobs by 2025.
Many are looking to youth to address that gap.
The Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) and Huron Perth Catholic District School Board (HPCDSB) have robust programs designed to encourage all students – from all backgrounds – to consider entering the trades as a career.
While around for quite some time, recently they have seen an uptick in interest.
Anthony Roes leads the High Skills Major at Stratford Distrcit Secondary School (SDSS), the school with the largest High Skills Major program in the AMDSB.
A province-wide program, SDSS offers eight majors: transportation, hospitality and tourism, health and wellness, energy, manufacturing, arts and culture, Engineering Stratford, which is an information communication technology, and a New Digs program, which is an environmental High Skills Major.
As part of a student’s major, they take a bundle of courses, get hands-on experience, and visit different institutions to get a feel for the career and the path they would take should they decide to continue down it.
“The whole idea of the program is to get them out of the school,” Roes told StratfordToday. “Any student, whether they're going into the trades, going to college, going to university, going right to work, they get a taste of what it's like to work in that specific sector.”
Currently, they have over 200 students enrolled in the program and Roes says it seems like the program is gaining momentum. Roes also heads up the co-op program at SDSS and says that each year they have more and more businesses reaching out for students to bridge their labour shortages.
Although already growing, Roes says they are still looking for community partners to connect with students and share information about their sector.
Getting interest going early on
Mark Flanagan leads the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) at the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board. Flanagan and Tom Smith of Conestoga College led a lesson at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Stratford, speaking to a number of grades at the elementary school.
OYAP is for senior students in high school, primarily grades 11 and 12, though Flanagan says they have been working with elementary students recently.
“When do kids make that decision?” Flanagan asked. “When did they start wanting to be an electrician?”
The answer, Flanagan says, is often earlier than expected. That is why the HPCDSB and other school boards are exposing young students to integral, hands-on skills early so that they can start to think about a possible career path.
From grade three and up, Flanagan has different presentations that range from birdhouse building to full house building. A recent presentation involved switchboards and electricity. The models the students were working on contained every kind of switch that would be found in a modern home.
Additionally, Flanagan and the public board have funding towards women in skilled trades. Through initiatives like going to the shop at St. Mike’s in Stratford, they are trying to get young women thinking about a career-path that needs more female representation.
Currently in Ontario only four per cent of women are in skilled trades, according to Flanagan.
“We can listen to lectures, we can listen online to different people. Once the kids get their hands on things, that's where the trigger starts.”
Flanagan says that he has seen not only a change in the administration’s opinion on trades, but a change in parents too.
“Back when I was a high school construction teacher, when the parents had their child going through an apprenticeship they weren't as positive about it. Now … the positiveness in the parents has really changed … When I came from the trades into teaching, I took a pay cut. You know, trades are doing very very well.”
A new program aimed to provide support
Aside from the school boards, other organizations are also looking to support youth as they enter the trades.
Support Ontario Youth (SOY) is one of those organizations. Started in 2018, they recently announced a program to match natural aptitude and behavioural profiles of apprentices with employers. Recognizing that apprenticeships are not always easy to navigate, SOY aims to provide wraparound support for youth entering the trades.
Tiffany Garcia, operations coordinator for SOY, said the organization signs on apprentices and connects them with employers and mentors.
“We guide them through their whole apprenticeship,” Garcia said. “To make sure that if they need anything, we can help them.”
SOY will act on the apprentice’s behalf in meeting Ministry requirements, connect them to financial support, and guide them through the application process. Additionally, they provide a range of in-house scholarships.
For employers, SOY offers financial aid to assist with training and simplifies the hiring and administrative process.
In less than seven months, they have grown their apprentice-pool by 40 per cent, with retention at over 95 per cent.
The OYAP program and the High Skills Major are offered by both boards in Perth County. For more information on these programs, visit their websites.
To apply for SOY assistance, visit here.
