Constructing futures for families
Read time: 4 mins
Instructor Darren Hyland (black shirt) along with Construction Engineering Technician – Building Renovation program students Jeron Melville, Jack Donald and Han Shao.
Students in Mohawk College’s Construction Engineering Technician – Building Renovation program have spent two semesters making two CityHousing Hamilton townhouses fit for new tenants.
Mohawk College and CityHousing Hamilton have once again partnered on a project that is renovating city-owned units to allow for move in by people in need of affordable housing.
The program’s students began work on two townhouse units on the west Mountain in the first week of October.
Once complete, the newly remodeled units will see families on the CityHousing waiting list get the safe and affordable housing they need.
The 65 students, in their final year of the Construction Engineering Technician – Building Renovation program, split their time between their shop and lab at the Marshall School of Skilled Trades & Apprenticeship at the Stoney Creek Campus for Skilled Trades.
The students are required to finish 112 hours of hands-on work to complete their two-year program.
These real-life projects give the students an opportunity to work in a environment where floors aren’t quite level, door frames are not straight and they have to work within a timeline and budget.
“What better way is there to get them on the tools in a real-life situation?” says Mohawk College faculty member Darren Hyland, who teaches the third-semester Building and Renovation - Practical course.
“They get all the experience of a job site and learn what it's like dealing with clients.”
The students have done everything from taking the lead on inspecting the property and assessing the work to be done to demolition of kitchens and bathrooms to installing flooring, drywall, baseboards and cabinets, and painting.
Mohawk College received federal funding from the Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative and the Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) iHUB to support the partnership with CityHousing. The funds supply the students with CSA safety boots, high-visibility long-sleeve shirts, construction safety glasses, dexterity gloves, hearing protection, and N95 respirators.
“There is a great feeling of satisfaction with this and the students understand it too,” says Hyland. “Families in need will live here soon.”
Joewayne Watson is working in the three-bedroom unit. He had been working as a personal support worker when he decided to build on some experience in the renovation sector by returning to Mohawk College.
I just feel it’s more my thing. I’m really happy with the opportunity to work on this learning project. Watching it go from what it was to what it is now builds confidence and it makes me feel good that a family will get to live here in a nice home.”
Joewayne Watson, Student, repairs a damaged wall in one of the units.
Students complete a daily journal entry that includes before and after photos, how the team worked together, and what comes next. Instructors also evaluate specific tasks.
Andres Orjuela is working at a four-bedroom unit a few doors down.
He is an international student from Colombia who has a background in industrial design and was attracted by the structure of the program.
Andres Orjuela, Student, prepares a to install hardware on a newly installed door.
“Seeing the final results here will be awesome. I know people who have lived in affordable housing, so it feels good to give good units to someone who really needs it.”
CityHousing is the largest provider of social housing in Hamilton, managing 1,100 properties and 6,974 units that house more than 13,000 tenants across the city.
There is a backlog of vacant units in need of repair, says Brian Kinaschuk, head of the maintenance unit at CityHousing. Budget restrictions, the City’s procurement process, and the state of disrepair in some of the units makes it difficult to address the backlog even during a time when the wait list is thousands deep.
The partnership with Mohawk College, and another with Habitat for Humanity that sees high school students working on units, allows CityHousing to get units back out for rent faster than it could otherwise, Kinaschuk says.
“Mohawk College is an important part of the solution,” he says. “The partnership is valuable to our community because tenants can get into these units more quickly and also for the students because they get hands-on learning.”
Since 2009, Building Renovation Program students have worked on projects with several local organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Indwell, Delta United Church, Christian Horizons, and Kiwanis.
The CityHousing partnership comes out of CityLAB Hamilton, an innovation hub that brings together students and academic and civic leaders to co-create a better Hamilton. Mohawk College is a partner in CityLAB, along with the City of Hamilton, McMaster University, and Redeemer University.
CityLAB matches students and faculty with City staff to develop innovative solutions to city-identified projects that align with the City’s strategic priorities. That includes transit, climate change, housing, cycling infrastructure and green spaces.
Since it was founded in 2017, CityLAB has undertaken 220 projects, involving 3,122 students – including 1,449 students from Mohawk College. Those students have amassed more than 32,500 hours.
