Friendship Centre expo to demystify trade careers for youth

The Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre is inviting trade unions and employers into its gym on November 26 to show job seekers how to break into the skilled trades.

Unions and training providers will explain how to secure an apprenticeship and where to find training near Fort Erie, said Alicia Brooks, who works with the centre’s Youth Apatisiwin employment program. The centre will open its gym at 796 Buffalo Road to visitors from 1:30 to 6 p.m.

The centre’s education and employment team hopes to reach teenagers picking their first career and adults weighing a switch, Brooks said.

“We want to encourage our community members to come out, ask questions, make connections and discover the many opportunities available to them,” Brooks said.

Exhibitors will field questions about jobs in construction, carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, pipefitting and welding, as well as marine and military careers.

The centre has not said which employers and unions have signed on for the event.

Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey found 16.2 per cent of Ontarians aged 15 to 24 who wanted a job could not find one between April and June, nearly triple the 5.9 per cent rate for workers aged 25 to 54.

But BuildForce Canada forecast in July that Ontario’s construction industry must hire 126,100 workers by 2035 to replace about 92,000 retirees and keep up with a housing rebound and major building projects.

BuildForce expects 98,800 Ontarians under 30 to join the industry by 2035 but still forecasts a shortfall of 27,300 workers.

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