On hand for the funding announcement last Thursday were Premier Doug Ford, Minister Monte McNaughton, and local MPPs Neil Lumsden and Donna Skelly. Photo credit: Twitter/Neil Lumsden
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Labour Minister Monte McNaughton were in Hamilton on Thursday, July 13 to announce that the Ontario government is investing over $3.7 million to create training opportunities for local shipbuilders.
The move is meant to help tackle “the critical shortage of workers in the sector,” says the province.
The money will help 300 shipyard workers, apprentices, and job seekers receive specialized training in Hamilton and the St. Catharines community of Port Weller (located just east of Port Dalhousie).
The government says that the funding will “help modernize Ontario’s shipyards to attract lucrative shipbuilding contracts and thousands of well-paying jobs to the province.”
Training will be led by Hamilton’s Heddle Shipyards and will give both new and existing workers access to courses.
Workers will be given the opportunity to participate in 12 months of learning focused on improving and refreshing technical skills in ship repair, shipbuilding, shipyard health and safety, professional development, and leadership training.
Other courses will help job seekers begin careers in the skilled trades as welders, millwrights, and electricians.
McNaughton says that “Ontario will need over 100,000 more workers in the skilled trades this decade to build the infrastructure families and businesses rely on.”
“Careers like those in shipbuilding are meaningful, well-paying and can offer the path to a better life. That is why our government will continue to invest in ground-breaking training programs to help workers and jobseekers gain the skills they need to land better jobs and bigger paycheques in their communities,” he continued.
Shaun Padulo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Heddle Shipyards says that their company also continues “to support jobseekers who face higher barriers” to entry into the industry. He says that Heddle has brought 10 Ukrainians and their families to Ontario.
The $3.7 million investment is part of a larger $700 million Skills Development Fund program launched by the Government of Ontario to help train workers. The program has supported 596 projects thus far.
Local MPPs Donna Skelly (Flamborough-Glanbrook) and Neil Lumsden (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek) were also on hand for the announcement.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath was not present as she was still in Italy on Thursday as part of her “cultural and economic mission” to the country. She returned to Hamilton this past Friday, July 14.
Heddle Shipyards was founded in 1987 and is now the largest Canadian ship repair and construction company on the Great Lakes.
The company is currently working on at least two major projects.
The Canadian Coast Guard awarded Heddle Shipyards a $36.14 million vessel life extension contract for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) George R. Pearkes in August 2022.
The contract was awarded by Public Services and Procurement Canada after an open and competitive bid process.
Life extension work includes steel hull reinforcement; hull, superstructure, deck and mast recoating; galley modernization; replacement of the bow thruster, cycloconverter, propulsion generator and the internal communication system; tail shaft and rudder inspections; and domestic and auxiliary system upgrades.
That work is expected to finish in spring 2024.
Heddle also recently began reconstruction of a ship deck on a historic vessel that was built in Scotland: the SS Keewatin.
The SS Keewatin was built in 1907 and is the only ship left in the world from the Titanic era.
That work is expected to be finished in September 2023. When complete, the SS Keewatin will be a part of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
