Ontario Launches New Fund to Build Skilled Trades Training Centres

June 28, 2023

The Ontario government is investing $224 million for a new fund to build and upgrade training centres and help tackle the province’s historic labour shortage. Applications for the new Skills Development Fund (SDF) Capital Stream open on June 30. It will help unions, Indigenous centres, and industry associations with funding to build new training centres, or upgrade and convert existing facilities into new training centres with state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

“This new program will help boost the province’s training infrastructure, providing more people opportunities to learn new skills and advance their careers into good-paying, in-demand jobs,” said Premier Doug Ford. “We’re taking the steps needed to create a bigger pipeline of talent to ensure we continue to have the best workforce in the world to keep attracting investments and to build Ontario.”

Every day, roughly 300,000 jobs are going unfilled in Ontario, costing the province billions in lost productivity. The new capital stream will be open to a wide range of applicants in in-demand industries and support facility expansions, renovations, repairs and retrofits, and new building construction. Over their lifetime, these improved training centres are projected to help more than one million workers get the training they need to land better jobs and ensure businesses can find the skilled workforce they need to grow the economy for everyone.

“Ontario is facing the largest labour shortage in a generation, and our government is on a mission to help workers train for the well-paying jobs we know are available,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “We will continue to invest in innovative training programs and ground-breaking infrastructure to prepare jobseekers in every corner of our province for the future of work.”

Quick Facts

• To find out if you are eligible for the SDF Capital Stream, visit the below link starting on June 30: https://www.ontario.ca/page/skills-development-fund-capital-stream.
• The SDF Capital Stream applications open on June 30 and will be accepted until September 25, 2023 at https://www.ontario.ca/page/available-funding-opportunities-ontario-government.
• There are expected to be over 100,000 job openings in Ontario this decade in the construction sector.
• Through its first three funding rounds, the SDF has supported 596 projects, to help half a million people around the province take the next step in their careers
• Ontario’s Skills Development Fund is supported through labour market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

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