'Pre-apprenticeship' money for colleges aims to get more kids into trades
Cambrian gets $1.99M for infrastructure, $484K for training programs
Cambrian College is receiving $484,000 for two pre-apprenticeship programs that aim to introduce more people to the trades.
It's news that businesses in Sudbury are applauding.
The provincial government is also giving the college $1.99 million for its Applied Research Department, weeks after being designated a Technical Access Centre, one of only two in the country specializing in mining and mining technology.
The money, through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, will be used to purchase an industrial 3D printer and 5-axis milling machine, among other pieces of equipment used in the design and testing of prototypes, the province said in a press release.It's a sector that students have been slow to dive into, said Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano, who was in Sudbury to make the announcement.
"I'll tell you, I've been hearing this for so long here...I have employers talking to me all the time about how they have so many jobs available in the trades and they just can't fill them," Romano said. "They can't find the workforce to fill those jobs."
Employers like Bryan Welsh, a human resources manager with Maclean Engineering in Sudbury.
"I can tell you this right now from the contacts I have is, absolutely, there is such of lack of trades people in the industry, we just don't have them out there," Welsh said. "The onus is going to be on businesses to train these people."
Kendra Liinamaa is still in her first year of training at Cambrian college, and already has a job as a millwright.
"You need to have that dedication to apply, you need to have that dedication to put yourself out there in a position where people can recognize that you're a hard worker and they want to hire you," Liinamaa said. "And that's all you need. After that you're basically hired."
The pre-apprenticeship program announced by the province is part of an $18.3 million investment announced this year, with the goal of introducing 1,600 people into the trades.