Career Planning
Stone mason apprentice follows her passionA job on the rocksShe had worked as a veterinary assistant and then in bylaw enforcement and animal control. LINDA WHITE -- Special to the Toronto Sun |
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Tina Hart discovered the Ontario Masonry Training Centre in Mississauga and was one of just a few apprentices sponsored for a recent training session. Her training supervisor, Jan Vasu is in the background.
But it wasn't until Tina Hart decided to pursue her love of rocks and working with her hands that she found true job satisfaction as a stone mason apprentice.
"I've always liked building and hands-on work," Hart says. She discovered her passion while building a custom Scandinavian-scribed log house with exposed foundation. "I put a rock veneer on the front and built a fireplace/bake oven in the backyard. I've always collected rocks, which is where this started.
"While I was building my house, it made sense to me to work at something I loved," Hart says. She discovered the Ontario Masonry Training Centre in Mississauga and was one of just a few apprentices sponsored for a recent training session.
Masons are skilled workers who install masonry materials such as brick, block, stone and other materials to build walls and buildings.
In Ontario, a registered brick and stone mason apprenticeship requires 5,600 hours of training: 80% on the job and 20% in school.
In-school training is divided into three eight-week sessions: basic, intermediate and advanced. Apprentices typically attend one in-school session a year and are trained on the job for the remaining 10 months.
"During that time, it was up to me to find a sponsor," Hart says.
She turned to apprenticesearch.com. The website was developed by the Halton Industry Education Council in partnership with Human Resources Development Canada following an apprenticeship symposium that saw an opportunity to connect the growing skills shortage with unemployed youth looking for direction.
"I posted my resume and was contacted by Old World Stone," Hart says. "I was surprised at how quickly it happened. I visited their facility and was just in awe."
Old World Stone is a Burlington-based company that works on historically significant buildings across North America, including Union Station and the Whitney Block in Toronto. "The majority of people we have here are from out of country," says Old World Stone president John Bridges.
"Stone cutters and carvers are usually European and have come over as master craftsmen," he says. "The nature of the business is that you need vision to see what needs to be done. It's physically hard work, but you get the satisfaction of being part of restoring a building that may have been built 150 years ago."
More than 10 months into her apprenticeship, Hart remains in awe. "I'm learning how to carve natural stone and how to read shop drawings and make stone into exact specifications. I'm fascinated with the architecture."
She uses air tools and chisels, and works alongside master carvers. "I think it's key for me to learn. They've all been at this for 20 years. Their skill -- the way they're able to fabricate the stone -- is incredible," she says.
"I tell people we build castles. That's in essence what we're doing. The architecture we're working on is nothing like what's being built today. It's very elaborate and detailed. It can take two to three days just to build one square foot of an entire building. I'm grateful to everyone who helped make this happen."
linda.white@rogers.com
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