New DEI training initiative aims to place 250 workers as Ontario braces for a skilled trades shortfall of up to 400,000 by 2032
A new Ontario government-funded program is aiming to place up to 250 people from underrepresented groups into paid skilled trades jobs, as the province confronts a projected shortfall of 300,000 to 400,000 tradesworkers by the early 2030s.
The program, called Trade Up, Move Up, was announced this week by Skills Ontario and is receiving almost $1.2 million through the sixth round of the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development's (MLITSD) Skills Development Fund (SDF).
A DEI-focused push to fill the trades gap
"This is a new one that was just announced earlier this week as part of the Skills Development Fund," said Ian Howcroft, chief executive officer of Skills Ontario. "We're partnering with the Ontario government, and this will allow us to recruit, train, and find employment for up to 250 individuals."
The program is built around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and is specifically aimed at groups that remain underrepresented in the trades. "Our programming is open to all, so we're not restricting anything, but we are focusing on groups that are underrepresented in the skilled trades: women, Indigenous, other individuals that may have found barriers or challenges to entering the world of work or particularly skilled trades," Howcroft said.
In a statement announcing the program, Howcroft said Trade Up, Move Up would help participants "realize as much success as possible in the skilled trades," calling it an initiative that is "helping to change lives and inspire leaders through the skilled trades and technologies."
Paid jobs, not internships
Participants complete training followed by confirmed, paid work, not an internship or volunteer placement. "These aren't internships. They're not volunteer positions. These are training with real employment opportunities, paid employment after they finish their training," Howcroft said.
Support runs for six months. "What we do for the first six months is we monitor them, we work with them, and we provide some wraparound services depending on what their needs may be," Howcroft said, citing transportation, childcare, coaching, and mental health support as examples of that assistance. Most placements are expected to continue well beyond the initial six-month window, according to Howcroft.
Outreach teams will focus on several Ontario communities, including the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area and Sault Ste. Marie, according to Howcroft, working through employer groups, training organizations, and social media to identify participants.
Ontario facing a shortfall of up to 400,000 tradesworkers
Howcroft pointed to a widening labour gap as the driver behind programs like Trade Up, Move Up. "Most of the higher-level studies show that we're going to be short 300,000 to 400,000 workers by 2030 or 2032," he said. Retirements are outpacing new entrants, Howcroft said, while demand keeps climbing in industrial and institutional construction, northern mining projects, highway expansion, and the refurbishment of Ontario's nuclear facilities, building on a $260 million round of the Skills Development Fund that targeted similar upskilling goals.
Howcroft said a lack of a single, clear entry point into the trades, unlike law or medicine, remains one of the biggest barriers. Prospective workers can pursue an apprenticeship through an employer, a college, or a labour training facility, and figuring out which route to take is often overwhelming for newcomers to the sector.
A bigger funding round facing scrutiny
Trade Up, Move Up is one of six projects sharing more than $9.8 million in the sixth round of the SDF Training Stream, intended to help nearly 1,150 workers and job seekers train for careers in construction, manufacturing, transportation, and emerging technologies, Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini said in a government announcement.
The SDF has faced scrutiny over the past year. Ontario's auditor general, Shelley Spence, found the fund's project-selection and disbursement process was not fair, transparent, or accountable, and Ontario's integrity commissioner, Cathryn Motherwell, is investigating opposition allegations that Piccini breached ethics rules in awarding funding through the SDF, The Canadian Press reported. The government has said it tightened its screening process for this round, including new requirements for applicants to disclose the use of registered lobbyists.
Reaching underrepresented workers beyond this program
Beyond Trade Up, Move Up, Skills Ontario runs a broader slate of youth-facing programming, including a fleet of mobile skills unit teaching trailers that toured the province and reached roughly 150,000 students through about 2,800 presentations last year, Howcroft said. The organization also hosts the province's largest skilled trades competition each May, drawing about 3,000 competitors and 40,000 visitors, along with roughly 100 additional events annually aimed at Indigenous communities, young women, and trade and technology awareness days.
That outreach to women in the trades continues to run up against persistent safety and culture gaps facing women working on the tools, a gap Trade Up, Move Up is also designed to help close.
Trade Up, Move Up participants are expected to begin training later this year, with Skills Ontario building out its regional outreach teams in the coming weeks, Howcroft said.
