Canada's Skilled Trades Shortages: Support Ontario Youth is Filling the Skilled Trades Gap

It is easy to get so focused on the digital space in today’s world, that we forget Canada is set to make a massive investment in physical infrastructure, meaning we need to invest just as heavily in the skilled workers who will build it. It is estimated that within 10 years, we will face a shortage of 250,000 workers in construction alone.

Ontario specifically has seen a skilled labour shortage that has slowed the growth of construction companies in the last three years. This has led some contractors to turn down work and leaves others unable to bid on projects, according to a survey of contractors at non-residential sites.

Earlier this year, a total of 500 contractors in the construction industry were interviewed. The survey found:

• 79 per cent said the growth of their company had slowed.
• 76 per cent said their companies turned down work.
• 69 per cent said they declined to bid on projects for which they normally would have competed.
• 70 per cent said they had resorted to using less qualified labour.

"It's very busy right now," said Katherine Jacobs, director of research at the secretariat to CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "We're also experiencing a large number of retirements with the baby boomers retiring and moving on out of the industry."

Going forward, it is likely that we will see a push in Canada towards “smart infrastructure,” meaning built with integrated information and communications technologies (ICT) and internet of things (IoT) capabilities. For example, in the future, we may see streets with sensors embedded that communicate with smart phones to reduce commute times and better traffic flow. Creating smarter cities is going to require an array of skilled workers. More than just IT specialists, we also are going to need heavy equipment operators, electricians, concrete finishers, and many other skilled trades professionals.

What is the solution?

We need to be forward thinking, and it all starts with taking away the stigma that goes hand-in-hand with the skilled trades industry. Let’s work together to attract more young people into the industry, get more women involved (currently only five per cent, according to Statistics Canada), hire more apprentices, and deploy our workers more efficiently!

The skilled trades need you! Now more than ever we see an increased demand for tech-savvy electrical, mechanical, and HVAC technicians. These are all fields that have evolved significantly in recent years.

How Support Ontario Youth Can Help.

Apprentices:

We assist “job-ready” apprentices with finding placements and pro-actively manage their journey to ensure trade skills are being learned and hours are being captured. We provide a mentor so that apprentices have an independent expert as a resource if problems, or questions, arise on their job site or while they are in school. Support Ontario Youth has relationships with many industry stakeholders such as OCOT, MLTSD, ESA, Ontario Colleges, and Employment Ontario agencies, allowing us to best support apprentices.

Employers:

Support Ontario Youth can recruit, screen, interview candidates, and register apprentices. All employers need to focus on is apprentice training! SOY employers have the ability to bid on jobs that require additional manpower with access to a pool of apprentices. SOY also has access to a network of employers, taking the pressure off of individual employers to provide all the competencies that apprentices need to complete their apprenticeship. We can also assist employers in finding financial aid that may already be available to them to help ease with training apprentices. 

Support Ontario Youth employers are part of a network of like-minded business individuals to help troubleshoot, discuss ideas, and get trusted advice and guidance. This support is essential, especially for employers new to training apprentices. We can save you time, save you money and most of all help grow your business while growing the industry with access to quality apprentices!

Credit:

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/nobina-robinson/canada-skilled-trades_b_14136620.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/skilled-labour-construction-workers-shortage-ontario-construction-secretariat-report-1.5054456

https://obj.ca/article/la-cite-tackling-skilled-trades-shortage-ontario

http://blog.getatrade.com/blog/women-are-the-solution-to-canadas-skilled-trades-shortage

*https://www.buildforce.ca/en/media/press-releases