Investment in provincial pre-apprenticeship program opening doors to careers
CTV
Ontario’s Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program is receiving a large infusion of funding from the provincial government.
Ontario’s Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program is receiving a large infusion of funding from the provincial government.
On Wednesday, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announcing another $5-million at an event in London, expanding annual funding to $28-million.
Between March 2020 and April 2021, the program offered a free opportunity for 1,780 people with no experience in skilled trades to learn basic skills in preparation for an apprenticeship.
“The cooking and baking trades, arborists, construction trades, it really is endless. We need people and parents to know there are 140 different trades to choose from,” explained McNaughton.
After years on a carousel of temporary jobs, a Sarnia father says the program has led to a rewarding career.
“My life has totally changed since I entered this program,” says 40-year old Hopeton Powell. “I always wanted a steady job. A career. But every time I got a job it would finish, or there’d be a shortage of work.”
As he lay bricks inside the Ontario Masonry Training Centre in London, Powell explained how 16 weeks in the program gave him a foundation of skills to begin his formal apprenticeship.
