You may have already heard them over the weekend, the new Ontario government ads touting the benefits of a career in the skilled trades.
Last Friday, the government launched an ad campaign called "Find a Career You Wouldn't Trade." The ads will run in movie theatres, online, and at Tim Hortons.
The ad agency that produced the Raptors "We The North" campaign during the 2019 NBA playoffs, created the ads.
Over the first nine months of 2019, there were, on average, 204,000 job openings across all sectors, tens of thousands of them in skilled trades. On top of that, the government says journey-persons are retiring at a rate higher than they can be replaced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=zw80SxLl1Yo&feature=emb_logo
Saying the economy depends on it, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton added that we have to change the way we talk to kids about the skilled trades.
"There are some myths out there about jobs in the skilled trades that I want to address head-on," he told an audience at George Brown College in Toronto. "That they are for people who aren't as committed to school, for people who aren't as academic, and that they are dead-end jobs. We must, all of us, debunk these myths."
The ads are just one part of the government's strategy to fill those vacancies. It is also investing $75 million in three programs to expose high school students to the possibilities. The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program will get $12.7 million, a pre-apprenticeship program will get $20.8 million, and the Specialist High Skills Major program, $42 million.
"When it comes to opportunity, to earning potential, to having a chance to start your own business, the skilled trades come out on top," added McNaughton.