Ontario students need more pathways to enter skilled trades, say industry experts

Ontario has tens of thousands of unfilled jobs in construction — a problem experts say it will have to overcome to have any chance of fulfilling the government's pledge to get 1.5 million homes built over the next decade. 

While the pandemic played a role in the worker exodus, most in the construction sector point to one thing: older trade workers are retiring and not enough young people want their jobs.

"For far too long in Ontario, governments of all different stripes have told young people that the only way to be successful in life is by going to university, but that's simply not the truth," said Monte McNaughton, the province's labour minister.

Ontario needs that next generation of workers. The labour shortage is not only costing the province billions, but if Ontario can't get homes built, housing costs will rise even more than they already have.

In one Toronto school, you would never know there was such a problem getting students interested in skilled trades.

"I like it because it kind of shows you everything around you — how the world is built," said Daniel Orzechowski during a break from wiring panels at Toronto's Central Technical School near Bathurst and Bloor streets. .

He's in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), which features a course called the Specialized Trades Exploration Program to Construction (STEP) that gives students a feel for the trades.

He and a dozen other students took a break from their class at Central Tech to speak to CBC News Toronto about why they like the program.

"It definitely makes you feel like there's a lot of different opportunities, a lot of different routes you can go down," said student Maya Hamand, She said a lot of her friends just went to university because it's what they "were told to do."

Matt Bradley, the program's co-ordinator at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB ), says students learn valuable skills in the classroom that prepare them for apprenticeships before they're given on-site placements with Ontario construction firms.

Programs like these are important, says Bradley, because employers have grown increasingly reticent to take on new apprentices, often citing the financial demand of training younger workers without enough government funding or incentive.

"Employers often don't want to hire someone that isn't completely green," said Bradley.

"They want someone with a little bit of experience."

He says STEP helps by giving students real-life trades experience while they earn credits toward graduation.