The recent report issued by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), "Dismantling Public Futures," criticizing the Ford government for pivoting its approach to funding skilled trades programs paints a skewed picture of the training landscape for apprentices in Ontario. It's purposefully designed to ignore the benefits of union training halls in the skilled trades which are nowhere to be found in its thirteen page report.
For decades, governments prioritized traditional post-secondary education at the expense of technical training. The result? A looming labour shortage, with more than 20 per cent of Ontario's construction workforce expected to retire within the next decade. It was because of this failure of traditional post-secondary education that trade unions developed their own training centres with investments from their membership and their contractor partners. Now, governments at all levels are now looking to partner with private sector unions to create a pipeline for the next generation of workers.
The Skills Development Fund is a story of a long-overdue understanding of the untapped potential of trade unions as training institutions and the confirmation that we serve a core function in meeting Ontario's demand for a well-trained skilled trades workforce. It recognizes that government, unions and industry can all have a seat at the table in addressing workforce requirements and solutions. We are better served as partners than as competitors.
By enabling unions to design and deliver targeted, flexible training programs and investing in them through the Skills Development Fund, the Ford government has responded to real-world labour market conditions. Our training is developed by those who are closest to the work and understand how to get someone job-ready in a matter of weeks or months, not years. This is not academic theory. It's practical execution.
What truly distinguishes union-based training is that we are embedded in industry. We don't just teach skills -- we connect workers directly to jobs, union protections, and career pathways. We provide in-kind wraparound supports such as mental health resources, financial literacy courses, and subsidized tools and equipment that traditional postsecondary institutions simply do not offer. We even partner with school boards across Ontario to deliver pre-apprenticeship programming directly to high school students.
Our motivation isn't based on tuition; it's based on increasing the employability of workers. The Ontario Government has realized that construction unions can provide training in addition to work opportunities, including to groups that have otherwise been underserved, at next to no cost.
Union training isn't a new concept. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters has 42 training centres across Canada that have delivered industry-leading programs for decades. What is new is that our potential as an alternative to traditional post-secondary models is finally being recognized, and we're now receiving support from governments.
This isn't just limited to Ontario either. The Federal Government has seen the value of what unions can offer in this environment, creating the Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) in 2017.
We agree with OPSEU's report in that our post-secondary education system deserves strong public investment. But that includes skilled trades training -- whether it's delivered on a college campus or at a union training centre.
We need more apprenticeship seats to fill the gap created by construction workers retiring or we risk catastrophic labour shortages at a time when skilled tradespeople are critical to meeting our infrastructure and housing needs as a province and as a country. Building capacity for unions to deliver training should not be viewed as a threat, but as a necessity to meet increased demand for workers.
Our goal is not to displace colleges, but to build complementary pathways. All initiatives that bring more people into meaningful, in-demand careers are welcome. What we oppose is the idea that skilled trades training must happen exclusively within traditional institutions.
Ontario's economic future depends on a modern, nimble, and inclusive apprenticeship system. That means investing in all models that work, including union-led training. Now is the time to work together to build the workforce Ontario needs.