Ontario Making It Easier to Enter Skilled Trades

The Ontario government is introducing new policy and legislative measures to attract more young people to the skilled trades, including adding a new apprenticeship pathway and an online job matching platform. These initiatives are designed to promote the skilled trades to youth and workers and help set them on a path to rewarding, well-paying careers as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled trades.

Building on the successful Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), Ontario is creating a new stream, called Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST), that will allow students in Grades 11 and 12 to participate in more apprenticeship learning through additional co-operative education credits while completing high school. Graduates would receive a new seal on their Ontario Secondary School Diploma to signify their successful completion of the program and recognize them for their dedication to learning in the skilled trades.

Ontario would also make it easier to find apprenticeship opportunities by launching a new online job-matching portal for potential apprentices, journeypersons and employers to network and share opportunities. Currently, Ontario does not have a dedicated provincial system to match potential apprentices with hiring employers or sponsors. A government-housed platform, developed in partnership with the private sector, would help streamline the process for potential apprentices to find interested sponsors, register and begin their training.

Additionally, Ontario is proposing legislative measures to reduce barriers to apprenticeship training for workers who have prior professional experience, but cannot meet certain academic entry requirements to register as an apprentice. This policy would create alternative pathways for people interested in the skilled trades as a second career if they meet alternative criteria that may include minimum years out of high school and history of prior work experiences. The proposed change sets the stage for the ministry to develop these alterative criteria which would be set out by future regulations under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021.

These changes are part of a larger package that, if passed, would protect workers’ health and safety, impose tougher penalties on exploitative bad actors and make it easier for more people to start a trade career.