The Ford government has put a lot of time, money and effort into incentivising young people and women to start careers in the skilled trades.
In fact, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario’s 2024 budget includes a $224-million plan to upgrade training centres for the trades. While Doug Ford continues to promote the trades as a successful career option for everyone, his government has failed to ensure that apprentices are being helped and supported through their education and training.
There have been no efforts towards fostering a work culture of respect towards women and other minority groups. Overall, Ford and his PC government are missing the mark on following through with their push for more skilled trades workers.
Skilled trades in Ontario
In Ontario, apprenticeships are administered by Skilled Trades Ontario (STO), an agency of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD). Apprenticeships include on-the-job and classroom training. Apprentices are ‘sponsored’ by employers who sign training agreements that outline both the apprentices’ and employers’ responsibilities throughout the duration of the apprenticeship.
Apprentices are also administered log books that outline the necessary skills they must learn while on the job.
Classroom training is broken down into levels with learning curriculums provided by STO. When an apprentice receives a letter inviting them back to training, most of them take a leave of absence from their jobs and go on employment insurance for the duration of the school training. Apprentices also have the option to challenge these educational levels by taking exams.
Once an apprentice has completed all their levels and on-the-job training, they may submit the appropriate paperwork to the MLITSD. After this, depending on the trade, an apprentice may have to complete a practical and/or written exam to become a journeyperson in Ontario.
If an apprentice wants their skills to be recognized nationwide, they can write a Red Seal exam. They may also be asked to complete a practical exam for their Red Seal. With all of this in mind, let’s begin.
My journey to welding
My journey into the world of welding began by taking a two-year diploma program at a Northern Ontario college. Prior to this, I was pursuing another Bachelor of Arts degree in hopes that it would expand my career options.
However, after hearing of the shortage and large demand for skilled trade workers, specifically female trade workers, I decided to take a leap of faith and jump right into the world of the trades.
During the welding program, the instructors proudly stated that by taking this course I would be exempt from taking all three levels of education needed for the welding apprenticeship. However upon graduating, the representative in charge of my apprenticeship file at the ministry informed me that I was only exempt from Level 1.
When I inquired about writing an exemption exam for Level 2, I was informed that welding apprenticeship doesn’t have an up-to-date exam. In 2022, Skilled Trades Ontario prevented colleges from accessing all “outdated” exams as they no longer reflected the new curriculums that had been put in place. However, I have yet to learn of any new curriculum being developed for each trade.
When I began my apprenticeship, my application went through the Labour Ministry. I have exclusively dealt with the ministry even after the creation of STO in 2022.
To this day, I’m not entirely sure why the STO was created. Other than being a website for apprentices to use, I can’t seem to understand why one website has a board of directors and a registrar. If I’m having issues with the website or I need help with an application, all my emails are sent to the ministry, not to Skilled Trades Ontario.
Trouble on the job
It’s very clear to me that this was a make-work project that Doug Ford decided to undertake.
As Doug Ford has said, employers are in desperate need for new employees. However, he has failed to take into account that most employers want licenced tradespeople, not apprentices. From my experience, employers don’t want to take time away from production to train new employees properly.
Over the past couple of years, employers have blatantly lied to me about their intentions of training me. At one shop, despite being reassured during my interview that I’d receive training, I later found out that I wouldn’t be learning any new skills.
Upon inquiring about training, my employer said the shop wasn’t a training centre. After reminding my employer that they signed a training agreement that explicitly states they have an obligation to train me, I saw a large reduction in what I was allowed to work on.
Effectively, my employer was trying to “quiet fire” me. I’ve also been told, after working 12-hour shifts, that I can come back to the shop to learn new techniques, which are necessary for me to learn to complete my on-the-job training, on my own dime.
Employers have no clue, or really don’t care, about what they are signing when they agree to become sponsors for apprentices. In training agreements, it clearly states that employers have an obligation to their apprentices to train them properly on the skills that are outlined in their log books. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen, employers only hire apprentices because they can pay them lower wages and receive provincial tax breaks and grants.
Having worked with apprentices in other trades, this type of behaviour towards hiring and training apprentices is ubiquitous across all trades.
Man, the misogyny
Although there has been a large push to attract women into the skilled trades, Ford has done nothing to change the boy’s club attitude within work culture.
When I started my apprenticeship, I expected to experience some instances of misogyny at work — I didn’t anticipate the extent of the blatant misogyny that I would face. Not only did I get a preview into locker room talk, I also saw how many men held their female coworkers in poor regard.
Despite many of these women having the exact same or more credentials than they have, female coworkers were regarded as incompetent. Personally, I have been denied opportunities to learn and grow in the trade over my male coworkers. I’ve been told I’ll be trained gradually and slowly while my male counterparts are fast-tracked along.
It’s extremely frustrating to see these attitudes continue while there is such a push to get women in the trades.
Not only is the work culture hostile towards women, but there is a lack of washrooms and changerooms built for women.
During one interview, an employer proclaimed that they had built a full women’s change room in their newly constructed building. I was so happy to hear this as I’d been working at a location where the only women’s washroom, which doubled as my change room, had black mould growing on the ceiling tiles, which were collapsing inward.
On my first day, I quickly found out that this “women change room” was a lie. There was a cubby-sized washroom with a single sink and toilet.
Another one of my employers decided that any windowless room could double as a women’s change room and I found myself changing into my work-clothes amongst stacks of old employee files.
Unfortunately, these attitudes extend beyond sexism and into racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Many tradespeople use racist language and have antiquated views towards other people’s work ethic based on their skin colour. Many also verbally express their hatred towards members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
It’s no surprise that Ontario is experiencing a shortage of skilled trade workers. Working in the trades can be dangerous and very hard on a person’s health. It’s not an easy or fulfilling career path despite what Doug Ford and his government have been touting.
Ford’s government needs to make improvements if they want more people to enter the trades. Apprentices need to be given a clear understanding of what involvement the Labour Ministry and Skilled Trades Ontario have with their apprenticeships.
Colleges and the ministry need to work to clarify what students are receiving upon graduating from diploma programs. There is a desperate need for employer education in regards to what responsibilities they have towards apprentices. Similarly, there needs to be a system in place to protect apprentices from employers who want to use them as cheap labour.
The only way to change the pervasive and hostile work culture towards women, people of colour and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, is through education. Although it would be difficult to provide already existing tradespeople with such education, there is nothing stopping Ford’s government from including a mandatory learning section within the apprenticeship system dedicated to treating people with respect and dignity.
New regulations within Ontario’s Building Code should be added to include the necessary construction of women’s and gender neutral change rooms in newly constructed shops and workplaces.
I both love and hate my career. I’ve benefited from working with some great men who want me to succeed and do well, but I’ve also faced a lot of discrimination and pushback. I just want to be treated fairly and gain more experience. Personally, I think there is still a long road ahead before everyone can be accepted and respected in the skilled trades.
Lily Hansmann is not the real name of the author. Sudbury.com is allowing the use of a pseudonym to protect the writer’s identity out of a concern for professional retaliation.
