Ontario Premier Doug Ford stopped in Simcoe County on Tuesday morning to announce a $5 million injection to assist handle the workforce hole in expert trades.
Ford visited a building website alongside Freeway 11 in Oro-Medonte that would be the future website of a $25 million state-of-the-art coaching facility for greater than 1,600 jobseekers.
“This new facility is going to be incredible. I can’t wait to come back when it’s finished,” Ford mentioned.
The funding is being made by means of the the second spherical of the province’s Expertise Improvement Fund (SDF) Capital Stream.
The brand new facility will embrace simulation labs, workshops, lecture rooms, and an outside coaching space for tower cranes to coach apprentices in cell and tower crane operation, together with heavy gear.
Ford was joined by David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Coaching and Expertise Improvement.
“With one in three tradespeople retiring over the coming years, we must pass on the skills and expertise from the Golden Generation of Skilled Tradespeople to the next generation of workers,” the minister said.
Mike Gallagher with the Worldwide Union of Working Engineers (IUOE) took to the rostrum to emphasis the necessity for specialised coaching.
“In our trade, there is zero room for error. Lives depend on the work that we do, including our own lives,” mentioned Gallagher. “So right here on this site, we’re going to be training the very best of the best operators to ensure that the sites, whether that be carpenters, labourers, pipefitters, whoever it is that our members are working with can feel safe and are going to be able to return home at the end of the day.”
“We prefer to say when you could have a job within the expert trades, you could have a job for all times,” Ford added.
There was no timeline offered for when building would start or an anticipated completion date.
