Ottawa, ON — Skills Ontario is asking the Ontario government to keep investing in the skilled trades within the 2026 budget. Specifically, the organization is recommending multi-year commitments to scale up all efforts to encourage more youth to pursue careers in skilled trades and technologies.
The commitments highlighted by Skills Ontario include: funding to aid the development of a permanent Skilled Trades & Tech exploration facility to showcase careers and serve as a training facility for competitors; increased support for the Skills Ontario Competition; and increased funding for the Skills Development Fund.
“Ontario’s skilled professionals continue to be critical in keeping our economy, our healthcare system, and our society operating. We are making a difference in dispelling the myths and improving the image of skilled professionals thanks to the support and partnership of the provincial government,” said Ian Howcroft, CEO of Skills Ontario.
Skills Ontario adds that it applauds the government’s recent commitments to investing in Ontario’s future workforce. These commitments include training 2,000 skilled workers and releasing its new labour mobility/free trade regulation.
However, the labour shortage still remains a big concern, and as highlighted in the press release, “The skilled trades shortage is costing the province approximately $25 billion in foregone GDP.” Additionally, a Conference Board of Canada study highlighted a need for over 500,000 new entrants to the skilled trades by 2030 to address shortages.
To encourage more youth to join the trades, Skills Ontario expanded its fleet of mobile training trucks and hosted its Level Up! Skilled Trades Fair. This past year saw more students attend the fair than ever before. Over the course of the fall, 57,000 students attended the fairs and were introduced to careers in the skilled trades.