The province has launched a flashy new marketing campaign designed to entice young workers into the trades.
‘Find a Career You Wouldn’t Trade’ comprises a series of videos highlighting various trades – including pipefitter and industrial technician – which will be run digitally, in movie theatres, and on Tim Hortons TV across the province.
While filming tradespeople in their places of work, the footage espouses the benefits of working in a trade: good incomes, the potential for advancement, and, because there is such a shortage of trades workers, the opportunity to remain steadily employed over the long term.
"We need to do a better job at enticing young people and their parents to the skilled trades," Labour Minister McNaughton said in a Jan. 10 news release.
"For too long, we haven't viewed these challenging positions as a viable first option. That needs to change and our Open for Business, Open for Jobs strategy, including our new advertising campaign, will go a long way towards making the skilled trades more attractive."
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The province said it will also invest $75 million in three programs to expose high school students to the trades: $12.7 million in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, $42 million in the Specialist High Skills major program, and $20.8 million in a pre-apprenticeship program.
According to the province, over the first nine months of 2019, Ontario employers had, on average, 204,000 job openings across all occupations and industries. Of these, 13,000 were in the construction sector.
More information is available at https://www.ontario.ca/page/skilled-trades.
