The Ontario government has created a new public relations initiative to try and attract more people to the skilled trades.
As part of the government’s “Open for Business, Open for Jobs” strategy, Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training, and skills development, launched a marketing campaign on Jan. 10 to highlight the trades as a career under the slogan “Find a Career you wouldn’t Trade!”
“We need to do a better job at enticing young people and their parents to the skilled trades,” said McNaughton. “For too long, we haven’t viewed these challenging positions as a viable first option. That needs to change and our Open for Business, Open for Jobs strategy, including our new advertising campaign, will go a long way towards making the skilled trades more attractive.”
The government has also invested $75 million in three programs to expose high school students to the trades – $12.7 million in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship program, $42 million in the Specialist High Skills Major program and $20.8 million in a pre-apprenticeship program.
“The reality is that the skilled trades offer exciting and challenging careers that often require solid math and problem-solving skills and expose people to the latest technologies such as 3D printing and robotics”, said McNaughton. “When it comes to opportunity, to earning potential, to having a chance to start your own business, the skilled trades come out on top.”
Between January and September of 2019, Ontario had on average 204,000 job openings across all occupations and industries – 13,000 were in the construction sector.
The ad will run online and on social media, in movie theatres, and on television in Tim Hortons locations across the province.
