Wanted: Skills for construction By PAT BRENNAN, TorontoStar
Not only is Ontario's infrastructure getting old, but so, too, are the workers that built it. The average age of construction carpenters in Ontario is 55, according to the Toronto Construction Association.
Finding people with skilled trades is already the biggest problem facing the construction industry that built our infrastructure: homes, office buildings, roads and bridges.
Jobs such as bricklayers, roofers, concrete-forming-and-framing carpenters are having trouble attracting new recruits, said Jay Peterson, business manager at the Construction Trades Council, which represents 25 different construction trade unions.
'Those are considered some of the tougher jobs that have a significant amount of outdoor work involved,' said Peterson.
Other trades such as electricians and plumbers seem to be still attracting recruits. The electricians union in Toronto has more than 1,000 names of young people waiting to get into apprenticeship training.