Tim Hudak says there is a skilled labour problem in Ontario and he has the solution.
The Ontario Progressive Conservative leader was on a tour of Confederation College’s skilled labour training facilities Thursday afternoon. He said while the college programs are great, there aren’t enough positions in the provincial apprenticeship system.
“Sadly today’s system almost seems like who you know, your connections as opposed to what you know; your skills,” Hudak said.
He wants to see Ontario colleges do more to partner apprentices with employers and create 200,000 more high-skilled positions.
“These are good jobs these are steady jobs that pay well the kind of job you can raise a family with, buy a home with but we’re not doing enough,” he said.
And the current system, which requires a would-be apprentice to find a job while going through trade school, is so confusing that too many people are dropping out of the programs, Hudak said.
“Often between navigating the two,” Hudak said. “People lose interest.”
Confederation College presient Jim Madder said he would love to double the amount of students going through trade programs. And while the system does need some reworking, attracting young people to skilled trades is another reason the province is facing a shortage.
“There’s a challenge in terms of attraction to the workforce the skill trades workforce and I think we have to increase the profile in high school to what the opportunities are,” Madder said.
The college is also working with industry in the region to get more apprenticeship positions in Northwestern Ontario.
