With skilled trades workers in high demand — young students and guidance counsellors are part of the solution

As more and more skilled trade workers gear up for retirement, there's a strong push in Windsor-Essex, Ont., to bring in young talent to replace them.

St. Anne Catholic High School student Abbey Drouillard is exactly the kind of talent employers are looking for. 

At 17 years old, she's eager and excited to become a welder. 

"My father is a mechanic and I love watching him make things, fix things, build things," she said. 

"I wanted to do that myself, like, make many things, to produce things that can help others or could be of use to others."

Drouillard is taking part in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) through her school. It allows high school students to start an apprenticeship in the trades while still in school, and finish with a diploma and graduate as a registered apprentice.

Drouillard is doing her placement with REKO, a company that provides industrial automation services.

Her uncle is also a welder, and she learned through him there was a high demand for skilled people in that trade. 

Though it's difficult, Drouillard said she's building a lot of confidence in her welding abilities. 

"I'm doing it so often and I'm getting better at it and I enjoy it the entire time," she said. 

Succession planning

REKO currently has 10 students doing placements with the company through OYAP, from welding to machinist work, to IT. 

Lauren Beaudoin, the director of human resources, acknowledges the company is seeing a shortage of workers, with one in three employees looking to retire in the next five to 10 years.

Partnering with OYAP helps with succession planning. 

"It's always a struggle to find people," she said.

"So when we can find young kids, students that are eager to learn, we have much better traction with teaching them how to do things versus looking for people."

Getting guidance counsellors on board

Playing a key role in getting students excited about the trades are the guidance counsellors who talk to them about their futures. 

Through a partnership between the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) and St. Clair College, the board has been working to provide counsellors with a better understanding of what a career in the trades entails. 

As part of this initiative, earlier this month, about 10 counsellors attended a workshop at the college to get hands-on experience working with machines, laying brick and visiting job sites. 

Cathy Isabella, the department head of guidance at St. Joseph's Catholic High School, says it was eye-opening for her, not just as a counsellor, but also as a parent. 

"We oftentimes, you know, want to direct our kids in a certain pathway, right? Especially if they are really high academic achievers," said Isabella.

"But what this opportunity is showing me and is exposing me to is that any student, any type of skill set, any type of academic pathway — this would be a really wonderful opportunity for them."

Moving forward, she will approach students with the mindset that all students should consider college for the practical experience that comes with it. 

Isabella says she hopes more students get the chance to physically visit St. Clair College to see what the programs might look like. 

"Having this experience will open conversations not only with their teachers and their guidance counsellors, but more importantly, oftentimes with their parents, who ... are maybe pushing them in one direction but not realizing the different opportunities that are so beneficial to them at the college level," she added.

'Financially, it's incredibly stable'

Cory McAiney, teacher consultant for the OYAP program with the WECDSB, says 95 per cent of students who go through the OYAP program continue to work in that trade after graduation. And that many will have a job waiting for them immediately once they finish school. 

"Financially, it's incredibly stable," he said. "I mean, we know the debt that can be incurred going to go to university and not everyone has the means to university or will be paying that debt off for eight, 10, 12 years or more."

"You're gonna come out of a trade with no debt whatsoever, you're getting paid while you're doing your schooling. The financial incentives from the government to go into it are huge. There's grants available. You're basically going to go to school for free and come out with a job making, you know, six figures by the time you're 20, 21 years old."

According to a document put together by Workforce WindsorEssex, a non-profit focused on employment initiatives, journey people across a variety of skilled trades can make hourly wages that could range from $20 per hour to more than $30 per hour.

McAiney says that journey people who are unionized can make 30 to 35 per cent more than that.

That financial incentive is exactly why Grade 12 student Nicholas Schneider joined the OYAP program specializing in plumbing.

"Just probably the fact that I don't have to go to school for that many years, get to go straight into work and start making money," he said.

"The work, it seems the time goes by pretty fast when I'm doing it, and all the guys I work with are good. So it's pretty fun actually."

Demand at the college on the rise

Beyond what's happening at the high school level, St. Clair College is in constant contact with employers, and officials are aware that retirement planning is top of mind. 

They've added new programs related to the electrification of vehicles, and partner with high schools to attract students to the trades as well. 

Michael Silvaggi, vice president, academic and registrar for the college, says overall, demand for the trades programs are on the rise. 

"Whether that's heating, refrigeration, whether that's in our robotics field, whether that's in welding, whether that's in carpentry, woodworking and so forth," he said. 

He does however acknowledge that they are seeing a dip in demand in areas such as mould making.

Silvaggi added that the addition of micro-credentials through the provincial government has also helped attract students who want to achieve a specific skill set quickly.

Meanwhile, the province also just announced new projects to get more people into the auto sector as well. 

Free programs will be offered to train prospective workers through college partnerships and job placements, in areas including the electric vehicle field, machine operation and assembly. They'll be managed by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association and the Automotive Industries Association of Canada. 

The programs expect to reach more than 360 people and help them land jobs in the field after that.