Ontario Has the Projects — Now We Need the People to Build
As infrastructure and housing demands grow, Ontario must expand its skilled trades workforce through effective, people-focused training and support programs.
As governments double down on what they’re calling a new era of nation-building — major housing targets, clean-energy projects, expanded transit lines, and industrial revitalization — the question facing Ontario isn’t whether we have the ambition to build. It’s whether we have the people to build with. At a time when many Ontarians feel the economy is slowing, construction and trade-related sectors continue to experience persistent labour shortages. Employers report difficulty finding qualified candidates for roles such as electricians, HVAC installers, plumbers, welders, and sheet metal workers — trades that form the backbone of nearly every major infrastructure and industrial project. And with roughly 700,000 skilled trades workers expected to retire nationally by 2028, the challenge is becoming more acute.
This shortage isn’t abstract. It affects the cost and timeline of building homes, modernizing hospitals, maintaining public infrastructure, and helping manufacturers grow.
Strengthening the trades pipeline
In this context, apprenticesearch.com’s Gateway to the Trades program, made possible through investment from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund, plays a critical role.
Gateway to the Trades is a proven, durable model grounded in real hiring conditions — designed and delivered by apprenticesearch.com, an organization with 25 years of experience in Ontario’s skilled trades ecosystem and more than 35 years of leadership in career and workforce development — expertise that predates today’s labour-shortage urgency.
What sets Gateway to the Trades apart is its focus on the full range of supports required to enter the trades successfully. Many aspiring tradespeople face obstacles that exist long before they step onto a job site: the cost of safety gear, lack of essential certifications, uncertainty about apprenticeship pathways, lack of industry contacts, or simply not knowing where to begin. Gateway to the Trades addresses these gaps through facilitated training, individualized coaching, trades math and financial literacy support, safety certifications, assistance in purchasing tools and PPE, and other targeted wraparound supports. apprenticesearch.com
The results have been significant. To date, the program has helped 1,480 Ontarians secure employment in the skilled trades, launched over 650 apprenticeships, and maintained an 80 per cent employment rate. These outcomes show what happens when public investment aligns with employer needs and individual aspirations.
Opening doors to in-demand trades
The program’s impact comes to life in stories like Benjamin’s — a clear example of how Gateway to the Trades can open the door to an in-demand career.
After years working in the food service industry, Benjamin noticed how often restaurants struggled with costly and urgent repairs: refrigeration issues, HVAC failures, electrical problems. “After talking with repairmen, I decided to make a career change,” he says. But changing careers is rarely straightforward. Benjamin knew he wanted to pursue the mechanical trades but lacked the certifications, gear, and confidence required to get started. When he discovered Gateway to the Trades, everything shifted. “I was actually communicating with passionate people about the trades,” he recalls. Through the program, Benjamin worked on his trades-focused résumé, strengthened his math skills, and completed health and safety training that immediately made him more competitive. The program provided steel-toe boots, a hard hat, and tools — the essentials he would soon need to be successful on the job. “It allowed me to drop off my résumé with confidence,” he says. “I felt I had a team behind me.”
Supporting Ontario’s nation-building goals
That confidence paid off. Benjamin is now a signed apprentice with the Sheet Metal Workers’ Union, contributing to the construction of the new hospital in Niagara Falls — exactly the type of nation-building project Ontario is counting on.
Benjamin’s experience reflects what Gateway to the Trades is designed to do: open doors into high-demand trades, build confidence, and support people from the moment they apply to the moment they step onto their first job site.
As Ontario pushes forward with ambitious infrastructure and housing commitments, the need for a strong, diverse, and well-supported trades workforce will only grow.
Ontario is fortunate to have several organizations that have been doing this work for a long time. apprenticesearch.com is one of them, bringing 25 years of multi-funded programming that supports job seekers at key transition points into the skilled trades. This long-standing, collaborative ecosystem is already in place and ready to scale with the right support.
The path forward is clear: support the organizations that have been building this pipeline for years, strengthen the collaborations that already work, and ensure every Ontarian who wants to help build our province has a clear, supported route into the trades.