Engaging youth in trades

Techsploration, delivers hands-on, mentor-led programming for young women in grades 9 to 12

Mohawk College is working on multiple fronts to expose elementary and secondary students to the skilled trades in the face of an ever-intensifying talent shortage.

The average age in trades such as construction and industrial services is about 55. When the projected growth in the economy is also factored in to the wave of impending retirements, it’s estimated that Ontario will be short about 400,000 trades and technology workers over the next 10 years.

A skilled trades labour gap that has been 40 years in the making is only intensifying, says Paul Armstrong, Chief Operating Officer at Mohawk College.

“I would say that more recently, in the last five to 10 years, the acuity of the problem has continued to get more challenging. We still have a real challenge in being able to destigmatize the trades. They are extremely rewarding careers with a wide range of opportunities but young people and oftentimes, their parents or influencers, see them as undesirable for a variety of reasons.”

Automation and computerized controls have transformed many skilled trades jobs, says Armstrong. 

When it comes to filling the talent pipeline, Armstrong says it’s important to provide opportunities for introduction to the trades for young people and then promoting various educational pathways, including apprenticeships, certificate and diploma programs and routes into degrees.

Dual credit programs are an important entry point to the trades, says Dr. Cebert Adamson, Vice President, Academic at Mohawk College.

“They allow high school students to earn college credits while they're still in high school. They get hands on experience and can see a trade and practise a trade. It also gives a chance to make an informed career choice by getting that exposure.”

Dual credits and pre-apprenticeship programs often appeal to students who are hands-on learners.

“They begin to see a future that really opens up a world of possibilities. Because there's a huge labour gap across the country that needs to be addressed.”

To address that gap, Mohawk College partners with local school boards and takes a leadership role with workforce development initiatives, including industry education councils in both Hamilton and Halton and Skills Ontario that have a mandate to help build awareness and capacity. In fact, Armstrong just completed his time as chair of the board for the Hamilton Industry Education Council and is now chair of the board of directors for Skills Ontario, which last year connected with approximately one million elementary or secondary school students.

“We have to work together so that we're not all replicating and wasting resources, trying to do the same thing,” says Armstrong. “We’re destigmatizing and telling the story of the trades, I'm very proud that we're working hard collectively. We all have a role to play in changing the narrative, influencing decision making, and hopefully creating that funnel that gets individuals interested in the trades earlier in their decision-making process.”

Mohawk College faculty work alongside high school teachers to train students for the Skills Ontario trades competition, acting as coaches, judges and technical experts.

Key to solving the workforce challenges in the trades is knocking down barriers and ensuring that women, newcomers and racialized and marginalized communities find their place.

Change is happening. According to numbers from the province, apprenticeship registrations increased by 24 per cent in 2023. That historic increase in apprenticeship registrations included a 28 per cent jump among women.

Tours and information sessions hosted by the College attract about 3,000 high school students to Mohawk College's Stoney Creek Campus for Skilled Trades each year.

“They get to practice with various trades,” says Adamson. “A virtual welding simulator is always a hit and they get to see the electric vehicle lab and aviation and make some manufacturing pieces through our 3D lab. They get plenty of hands-on time with equipment and tools.”

In addition to the hands-on skills, students hear from people in the field and learn about potential career trajectories.

Beginning in the fall, every high school student in the province will have to finish a technology and trade credit in order to graduate. Mohawk College will be a resource for local schools, says Adamson.

  Mohawk College’s other youth-oriented engagement programs include:

• Put Your Future in Motion

A community program designed to introduce elementary and secondary students to advanced skills and exciting careers in the automotive and smart mobility sector. Part of Ontario Vehicle Network’s (OVIN) Regional Future Workforce Program, the program aims to involve students from local school boards in grades 5-12 as well as parents, educators and the community. Attendees can participate in skills-building and awareness activities and explore careers in the connected world, sustainability, and automotive industries taking place at the Fennell Campus and summer camps at Mohawk College’s Stoney Creek Campus.

The Put Your Future in Motion program also connects girls attending local high schools with role models and employers in the automotive skilled trades and technology industries.

• Skills Ontario Summer Camp

A week-long day program where youth entering grades 7-9 get to explore careers in skilled trades through interactive games, industry tours and entrepreneurship programs. Campers take part in hands-on workshops led by Skills Ontario counselors and Mohawk College professionals that introduce them to a variety of topics in the industrial, construction, motive power, service, and technology sectors. Through hands-on activities relevant to the skilled trades, campers develop communication, problem-solving and teamwork skills.

• Techsploration

Mohawk College has entered a partnership with Techsploration, an award-winning not-for-profit organization headquartered in Nova Scotia that delivers hands-on, mentor-led programming for young women from diverse backgrounds in grades 9 to 12 with the goal to increase the number of women working in science, engineering, trades, and technology-related occupations. One-week summer camps using a mobile classroom offer the opportunities for students to try different trades, including welding, electrical and woodworking.

• Inspiring Young Minds

Alongside elementary teachers in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, Mohawk College faculty develop and teach tailor-made hands-on activities with learning outcomes that align with curriculum for students in grades six to eight. Professors in welding, millwright and automotive mechanics also explain their trades and share their own career journeys and the opportunities that exist in their fields. The Mohawk College-HWDSB project raises awareness of skilled trades programs in secondary school and highlights post-secondary opportunities, including apprenticeships.

• Jill of All Trades

This program seeks to empower young women and female-identifying students in grades 9-12 to make informed career choices through hands-on experiences in skilled trades. Hosted by Mohawk College for the first time in Fall 2023, this event provided a safe and engaging learning environment where female mentors, faculty and students engage in trades workshops. At the event, students from area high schools were given the opportunity to learn more about the trades and chose three workshops among 12 available options that provided a taste of potential career paths in everything from sheet metal to aircraft structural maintenance.

• Honour the Work

Mohawk College recently hosted Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board educators for a daylong "exploring the trades" elementary educator event, conducted by Honour the Work, an organization that promotes skilled trades education by providing books, equipment and lesson plans that introduce the trades to elementary students.

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.