Education/training
School board, union partner upA new partnership between the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and a carpenters' union will create an apprenticeship program designed to give students the tools needed to carve out a rewarding career while filling a shortage in the trades. |
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 [ 2002-09-25 ] |
Jimmy Hazel, president of the Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council, shows students cabinet-making blueprints.
"It's a win-win situation," says Jimmy Hazel, president of the Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council, which represents 14 construction unions. "Tahrough the carpenters' union, we have a lot of contractors who are running short of cabinet-making apprentices. They were considering going to Europe, but I encouraged them to consider Canadian resources."
The Carpenters Union Local 27 recently donated $50,000 to the board that will be put towards the creation of an apprenticeship cabinet-making program. Students will work with tradespeople from the Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council to build furniture for the board, while earning hours towards their cabinet-making apprenticeship qualifications with Local 27.
"We now have 11,400 guys working out of one local in Toronto. The carpenters' union needs 300 guys to fill retirements next year," Hazel says. "We are booming. Every crane you see means there are carpenters at work. We should be tapping into Canadian kids and giving them an opportunity for the future. They're our resources."
Local 27 will rent two classrooms at Westview Centennial Secondary School at Jane and Finch, which will be renovated to accommodate a computerized router machine that has been purchased by the board, Hazel explains.
Students will build desks and chairs for day-care centres at the board at a cost considerably lower than if the furniture was purchased from a manufacturer, Hazel reports. The modular furniture was designed by students at Toronto's Ryerson University under a contract with Local 27.
The apprenticeship cabinet making program is slated to get under way early next year. The new program will be open to all TDSB secondary school students, offering them an opportunity to explore career options in the skilled trades.
According to the TDSB, 1,700 students are now registered in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), which allows them to earn credits toward their high school diploma, while the hours they work on a job are applied to journeyperson certification in a skilled trade. Another 10,000 students are in co-op placements, the board reports.
It's important to give students an early introduction to the trades, maintains Hazel, who is concerned the average age of an apprentice in Ontario is too high at 30 years. "We have to change all that."
He says the average age would drop if students recognize early on the opportunities afforded by skilled trades.
He's pleased to take part in the launch of the program. "It's important that it's a partnership," he says. "This is an initiative that guarantees jobs from some of the major furniture makers in Canada. It gives students the experience to fill those types of jobs."
(Linda White is a freelance writer based in Brooklin, Ont. and can be reached at linda.white@rogers.com.)
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