SPONSORED CONTENT
Colleges Collaborate to Provide Crucial Job Training to Aluminum and Steel Industry Businesses BY FRANK ARMSTRONG
W
hen the U.S. introduced trade tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in May 2018, Canada’s manufacturers issued a collective gasp. The impacts were felt acutely in Ontario, which has the highest share of steel production workers in Canada and more than 150 aluminum fabrication suppliers.
Eastern Ontario, of course, was no exception
“Some of our smaller manufacturers were really panicked because as soon as you start increasing the costs of supplies and inventory, that means staff disruptions, we’re not investing in capital or innovation, and we are not investing in training,” says Darla Price, managing director of the Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association. Even without the troubling impacts of the tariffs, aluminum and steel manufacturing firms were already facing challenges from a surge of imports from non-NAFTA countries, rapid technological change in manufacturing, and skilled labour shortages.
Something had to be done
In this region, the Eastern Ontario College Consortium—Consortium des Collèges de l’Est de l’Ontario (EOCC)—was created to help the local steel and aluminum manufacturing and metal fabrication sector to remain competitive, with funding from [ 32 ] stuffmadeandbuilt.ca
the Ontario government. Through its SkillsAdvance Ontario program, the Ontario government funds partnerships that connect employers with the employment and training services required to recruit and advance workers with the right essential, technical, and employability skills. It also supports jobseekers to obtain employment by providing them with sector-specific employment and training services. Projects like the EOCC are intended to support workforce development and embody a sector-focused strategy that takes into consideration the dynamic nature of regional economies and labour markets, as well as the evolving requirements of different industrial sectors. Under the project, five Ontario colleges came together to help steel and aluminum and metal fabrication businesses to innovate and collaborate on sector-based training and workforce development solutions that can be rapidly deployed and achieve synergy via shared resources and ongoing collaboration. Those colleges are Algonquin College, Collège La Cité, St. Lawrence College, Fleming College, and Loyalist College. Lisa Benoit, manager of employment services at Algonquin College and a consortium spokesperson, says that since the launch in April 2019, the project was able to mobilize quickly to provide the sectors with much-needed upskilling and retraining supports. The project aims to support
over 1,600 incumbent workers and 400 job seekers in Eastern Ontario in its 24-month project period. Existing workers will continue to receive upskilling and retraining through the project to ensure they are kept up to speed with the ever-evolving technology changes of factories. In addition, this year, job seekers will receive training to help make them more competitive for employment in the steel and aluminum and metal fabrication sector. Upskilling training can address a myriad of skills needs, from welding and machine shop essentials to artificial intelligence, pneumatics, and leadership. Indeed, leadership training is in big demand. “We are, across the board, in an environment where we have a number of mature workers who are set to retire from the sector and a number of emerging new leaders who need to be equipped with the skills to drive change within their organization,” says Benoit.
