Education/training

Training centre simulates construction site

For a group of high school students eager to explore the skilled trades, the Universal Workers Union Local 183 Life Long Learning Centre will serve as their classroom for the next couple of months, thanks to a unique partnership.

LINDA WHITE
[ 2006-03-15 ]

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The Life Long Learning Centre has started a program where 30 high school students will work alongside the construction industry's leading craftspeople.

The centre simulates a construction site and will prepare 30 students to work alongside the construction industry's leading craftsmen. "We build full-scale houses, portions of roads with curbs. We replicate the type of work they'd be doing on site," says Lito Romano, the centre's program director.

Students spend their first eight weeks at Vaughan centre, where they'll obtain Level One training in a two-year construction craftworker apprenticeship. They'll also complete health and safety courses before being placed with a builder or contractor.

CO-OP PLACEMENT


They'll nurture their newfound skills alongside carpenters, plumbers, tile setters and brick and stone masons at a co-op placement for the remainder of the semester. Some could be offered full-time employment at their placement.

The program was piloted at North Peel Secondary School in 1998 and later expanded to include students from across the Peel District School Board (PDSB). Beginning this month, it includes students from the Simcoe County District School Board.


"Students will decide which trade they want to focus on," Romano says. "They can use this program as a steppingstone to other trades we represent, such as road building, sewer and water main installation, and framing."

The program has earned rave reviews from educators. "The facility is phenomenal. It really does reflect a job site and the students really get a feel for a trade," says Judith Nyman, PDSB associate director of education. "Students are exposed to a wide variety of skills and then have an opportunity to be placed with a builder and apply those skills in a real life setting."

Students register with the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), a school-work transition program that allows them to begin training in a skilled trade while in high school. They earn co-operative education credits towards their diploma and the hours they work are put towards journeyperson certification.

The experience is a valuable one, even if a student decides they're not cut out for the trades. "Students get to see the kinds of industry standards that are out there," Nyman says. "Their teachers visit them on the job site and learn about those standards and transfer them back to the school."

The demand for skilled tradespeople is on the rise. "The pressure on the need for skilled workers in the residential and civil construction industry is evident," Romano says, pointing to aging infrastructure, demand for new homes in the Greater Toronto Area and a workforce preparing to retire.

The country can no longer rely solely on immigrants to meet the demand for skilled tradespeople, warns Richard Lyall, president of RESCON, an association of builders, and vice-chair of the training centre's board of trustees.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES


He is calling for increased training opportunities, such as those provided at the Life Long Learning Centre. "Our training centre can help on a limited basis. Schools still have tens of thousands of students," Lyall says. "Construction is a very tactile type of profession at the trades level. It's not a desk job. You're not going to get a sense of the trade unless you're on the job."

Universal Workers Union Local 183 also offers a training program for high school students at its centre in Cobourg. Visit www.liunalocal183.ca to learn more.

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QUICK FACTS


Universal Workers Union Local 183 Life Long Learning Centres ensure trainees have the technical skills and safety training needed to work on residential and civil construction projects across Ontario.

The centres, located in Toronto, Vaughan and Cobourg, offer:

- Apprenticeship training in brick and stone masonry, concrete finishing and construction craftwork;

- Specialized training courses, such as blueprint reading, concrete and drain installation, house framing, road building, and sewer and water main;

- Health and safety courses, including chainsaw operation, hoisting and rigging, natural gas safety and scaffolding safety.

The facilities are managed by a board of trustees represented by Local 183 members and contract partners. Visit www.183training.com.



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