'Demand is opportunity': Sudbury centre set to expand with wait lists for carpenter training
This is part of a special series looking at the housing market in northeastern Ontario
One of the reasons for the housing shortage being felt across northern Ontario is a shortage of the people who build those homes and apartment buildings.
It's a problem that they're working on at the training centre of the Carpenter's Union Local 2486 in the Azilda area of Greater Sudbury.
"It's crucial to be able to have the knowledge and the skills with your hands to be able to take a piece of paper and turn it into reality," said union coordinator Cameron Deering.
The centre offers courses in everything from hanging doors to putting up scaffolding to "interior systems" for commercial and industrial construction, which he says means "the guys putting in your fancy drop ceiling and curved walls."
Deering, whose union already has 1,400 members, says each eight-week training program takes 12 to 15 students and there are waiting lists to get a seat in the classroom.
"There's a backlog of apprentices looking to get their schooling done, so they can challenge their exam and become journey people and train the next generation of apprentices," he said.
"Demand is opportunity."
He says there is so much demand in the north, that some 400 carpenters had to be brought in from elsewhere in Canada to get projects built on schedule over the past few years.
That's why, thanks to nearly $2 million in provincial funding, the Azilda training centre is getting ready to go through some construction of its own, including converting office space into new classrooms and a brand-new building featuring a "training auditorium."