Education/training

Website gives students tools to pursue skilled trades

A website that provides information on two dozen skilled trades related to the residential construction industry -- including trade profiles, pathways to training and earning potential -- is designed to help students access the tools needed to build rewarding and lucrative careers.

LINDA WHITE -- Special to Sun Media
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"We often got calls from people interested in the trades, such as how to access employers in order to pursue an apprenticeship and information on career opportunities in residential construction," says Silvia Bendo of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).

"The information was out there -- it was just a matter of finding it."

BILD developed the www.HomeBuilding

Careers.com website in response to the many queries it was fielding about how to enter the skilled trades. The website is a convenient tool for students, teachers and parents alike.


Formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, BILD is the voice of the residential land development, homebuilding and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area.

Interest in skilled trades has received a boost thanks to such initiatives as the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program, Bendo notes. The program is designed to ease the transition to apprenticeship training, college, university or the workplace.

SHSM gives students the opportunity to explore, identify and refine career goals and make informed decisions related to post-secondary education or training and next steps towards a career in many fields, including construction.

Across Ontario, colleges offer courses in everything from heating, ventilation and air conditioning techniques to carpentry, welding, electrical, construction, architectural studies, construction management and trades, mechanical engineering, cabinetmaking, landscaping and environmental technology. Several colleges offer apprenticeship and certification programs.

The residential construction industry offers countless opportunities, reports Rafael Raghubir. He completed the building environmental systems course at Seneca College in Toronto and is now a part-time faculty member teaching the course and working in the field as an operations manager for a property management company.

"I've been doing this for 22 years and love it," Raghubir says of his career. "It's called a 'recession-proof field' because we protect an owner's assets, which is the building ... 180 new jobs are coming up in the city because of new buildings."

Who would be successful in the trade?

"Anyone with a mechanical, construction of technical background," Raghubir says.

"We're seeing a larger

percentage of students from an automotive background. You also need to be passionate about dealing with

customers because the business is very much customer driven."

linda.white@rogers.com



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