Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Ontario government is investing $1.2 million in a skills training project to prepare 104 people for careers in the Sault Ste. Marie construction sector.
The project is designed to break down employment barriers for those looking for entry level construction jobs and help workers advance to new jobs.
“We’ve been really fortunate in the last year to have done a one-year pilot of this program where we saw some tremendous opportunity for continued long term success, continued assistance to local employers to bring entry level people into the construction industry and give them some of the training opportunities and experiential opportunities that not everybody gets in being able to get into the trades,” Adam Pinder, Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association executive director said on SooToday.com.
“We’ve now developed this program that we look forward to running over the next two years to give people the opportunity to learn some fundamental skills and develop them and get ready to go and launch a career in construction,”
The program will help workers, including those who lost jobs due to the pandemic.
Through the SkillsAdvance Ontario program, the Sault Community Information and Career Centre will work with the Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association to provide necessary skills training.
The program includes a two-week job placement and participants will earn industry-recognized certification and credentials. Training will prepare current employees for senior level positions such as site supervisors and project managers.
“I am very excited that this short-term training program will be available to people and businesses in Sault Ste. Marie,” local MPP Ross Romano said in a news release.
“It’s an area that, for a lot of people out there, there was for some reason a discouragement level, but it is such an exceptional career. There are awesome, incredible, outstanding opportunities for you in the trades.”
