Ontario supporting auto manufacturing workers

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

The government of Ontario is investing $7 million to train and provide paid job placements in the automotive manufacturing sector for up to 800 people from disenfranchised groups, including: women, youth, people with disabilities, racialized groups and Indigenous people.

This project, which is piloted by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), will help develop a new talent avenue for a sector with an older workforce and help historically ignored people to train for, access, and retain gainful employment.

The Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, announced this initiative recently alongside Christine Hogarth, MPP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, and Kinga Surma, MPP for Etobicoke-Centre.

“Our automotive sector has openings across the province for talented, trained and eager workers,” said Minister McNaughton. “This program will help ensure people who face multiple barriers get access to free training and get on track to promising careers in assembly line work, machine operation or quality assurance, to name a few. This will energize our economy, workforce and, just as importantly, create great, local jobs that make our communities stronger. We will once again make Ontario’s automotive sector one of the most competitive in the world.”

As of this month, APMA is working with community agencies and employment service providers to place up to 100 trainees per month with many auto parts manufacturers across Ontario, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses, and APMA members.

Those in training will participate in financially gainful job placement sessions that will last at least three months. Participating employers will receive up to $8,000 in support per trainee, of which a maximum of $3,000 can be used as a wage subsidy and $5,000 to offset the costs of related training.

The job placements and training happen concurrently, starting between June 2021 and March 2022, with training customized to fit each trainee by APMA and their employer, which can include on-the-job training, in-class or online learning.

This training will include manufacturing essentials, such as problem solving, document use, basic math, project management, as well as oral communication, critical thinking and interpersonal skills.

“Ours is an industry with an incredible future that is critically short of people to share in it,” said APMA president Flavio Volpe. “Partnerships like these allow us to build permanent pathways into new communities who would otherwise not have accessed this prosperity.”

This new program is part of Ontario’s $115 million Skills Development Fund, made to support fresh ideas for training and skills development that will help the economy recover and prosper.

Kinga Surma MPP for Etobicoke-Centre said, “This kind of innovative training program benefits jobseekers by providing an opportunity to learn valuable skills with on-the-job training while also enabling employers to develop new talent so they can expand production. As the province’s economy recovers, it’s programs like this that will have a positive impact for both the people and the job creators in Etobicoke and across Ontario.”

“This program,” said Christine Hogarth MPP for Etobicoke Lakeshore “will help trainees gain valuable training and skills so they can secure well-paid jobs, and provide employers in Ontario’s auto parts manufacturing sector with fresh talents so they can produce their products at full capacity. I am excited that our government is partnering up with the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, which is headquartered in our beautiful Etobicoke, to deliver this important program to help underrepresented people and small and medium-sized businesses in the industry.”

Here are some facts to consider.

• According to the Future of Canadian Automotive Labour Force, numerous automotive manufacturers have a workforce composed largely of workers over age forty-five.
• There were 2,280 job vacancies in Ontario’s transportation equipment manufacturing sector during the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 35% since the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Skills Development Fund projects are supported through labor market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

Applications are being accepted through APMA’s partner community agencies, employment service providers and its 300-plus member organizations. Individuals who wish to apply may do so through APMA’s website.