Burlington Trades Groups Get $652K to Train 35 Apprentices

Two organizations that serve Burlington are splitting about $652,000 in provincial money to put 35 people through pre-apprenticeship training, part of a $6 million round of skilled trades funding across the Hamilton area.

The YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford receives $330,345 to train 20 people, primarily youth, as truck and coach technicians, the mechanics who keep transport trucks and buses on the road. The program covers Level 1 training along with employment readiness supports.

The John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington and Area receives $321,930 for 15 spots in machinist and millwright training. It is built for people who run into barriers when they look for work, including those who have been involved with the justice system, and it comes with technical training, industry certifications and a work placement.

"Individuals who have faced significant barriers to employment, particularly those with justice involvement, are gaining much more than technical skills and industry-recognized certifications," said Menelik Girma, team lead of employment services at the John Howard Society. "They are rebuilding confidence, rediscovering their purpose and creating a future they once thought was out of reach."

Why the money is going here

The rest of the province's $6 million went to other Hamilton-area training centres, including Mohawk College's Stoney Creek campus and a new 7,000 square foot Ironworkers training facility in Ancaster. Ontario says it will need about 7,300 millwrights over the next decade, plus 7,700 electricians and 6,400 welders, and expects roughly one in six job openings in the province to be in a skilled trades occupation by 2034.