Skilled Trades are Up in Ontario!

Our government is working hard to attract more young people to skilled trades and it’s working!

Ontario’s skilled trades offer high paying careers that are in high demand, as more than a third of Ontario’s apprentice or trade certificate workers are now over 55 years old.

This year skilled trades apprenticeship registrations rose by 24% from 21,971 to 27,319. This includes a 28% increase among females.

Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)

• OYAP is a specialized program in high school that allows students to explore apprenticeship and consider careers in the skilled trades, generally starting in Grade 11 or Grade 12 through the cooperative education program. OYAP now has more than 72 recruiters across 800 schools so students can learn about the skilled trades at a younger age.

Skilled Trades Career Fairs

• The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development invited students Grade 7-12 to a traveling career fair to experience hands-on demonstrations of over 140 skilled trades. This year nearly 13,000 students, parents and teachers visited fairs in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, London, Mississauga and Ottawa. More locations and dates for next year will be announced later this summer.