Ontario Construction News staff writer
The provincial government says it is investing $20 million in training partnerships, roughly tripling the funding of the existing Skills Catalyst Fund program launched in January 2018.
“Nearly one in five jobs over the next five years will be in the skilled trades,” Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, said in a statement. “We are looking to industry and other partners for innovative solutions to help solve this skills gap.”
To qualify for funding, companies will need to form partnerships and demonstrate innovative approaches to training and workforce development.“We need to prepare our children and other young workers fo the jobs of tomorrow,” McNaughton said= “Careers in the trades are meaningful, exciting and well-paying. This is just one of the ways we will help young workers and employers succeed in a rapidly-changing world.”
The government says it supported 20 successful training projects through the first round of the Skills Catalyst Fund, including:
- A simulated workplace environment where 500 students in the Sarnia, London, Thunder Bay and Belleville area worked on real-life industry problems in business, engineering, health and information technology.
- An introduction to masonry for 274 middle- and high school students in Windsor, Ottawa, Kingston, and the GTA through a partnership between various school boards and the Ontario Masonry Training Centre.
- Apprentice bootcamps launched by the Communitech Academy in Kitchener that introduced 170 participants to the basics of digital marketing, tech sales, data science, UX, and Artificial Intelligence.
“Communitech is thrilled to support the Government of Ontario’s vital work on training and skills development,” said Iain Klugman, CEO of Communitech. “This new investment in the Skills Catalyst Fund is significant and sends a signal to businesses that the skilled workers they need to both grow and succeed in the digital economy will be present right here in Ontario.”
The government says it will launch the call for proposals for the next round of the Skills Catalyst Fund in the coming weeks.