Ontario Launching Mobile Skilled Trades Classrooms

Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development announced today that The Ontario government is investing $5.4 million to design and build three mobile tech classrooms that will travel across the province and teach students and young people about the skilled trades. The classrooms, built and operated by Skills Ontario, will feature hands-on learning stations and simulators for electrical systems, welding, crane operation, auto-painting, tire and brake work, heavy machinery and more. Over three years, they will let nearly half a million people explore the skilled trades and will help tackle the labour shortage the province faces in a critical industry.

Last month, the government announced apprenticeship registrations increased by 24 per cent in the last year – from 21,971 to 27,319 – as more people decide to pursue rewarding, well-paying careers in the industry. This increase, including a 28 per cent jump among women, follows more than $1 billion in investment in the skilled trades over three years, along with the launch of the new government agency, Skilled Trades Ontario.

The province helped launch the Trades & Tech Truck pilot program in 2022. The first truck reached over 40,000 students and young people, visiting more than 50 events across the province from Toronto to Ottawa and Thunder Bay.

This project is funded through the government’s Skills Development Fund, an over $700 million initiative, which supports ground-breaking programs that connect jobseekers with the skills and training they need to find well-paying careers close to home.

Quick Facts

• The new mobile classrooms will be fully operational by the summer of 2024 and will accommodate 150,000 visitors a year.
• 1.3 million people are working in skilled trades-related occupations in Ontario.
• In 2021, about one in three workers in Ontario with an apprenticeship or trade certificate were aged 55 or over and nearing retirement.
• In total, there were 93,866 apprentices active in Ontario as of July 2023.
• Through its first three funding rounds, the Skills Development Fund has supported 596 projects, to help over half a million people around the province take the next step in their careers.
• The Ontario government launched the new $224 million capital stream for the Skills Development Fund on June 30 to support the building of new training centres and the renovation or expansion of existing ones.
• Ontario’s Skills Development Fund is supported through labour market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.