Skilled trades money for Eastern Ontario

The entrance to the St. Lawrence College Brockville campus on Parkedale Avenue. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

BROCKVILLE – The provincial government will be putting nearly three quarters of a million dollars into training for future skilled trades jobs around Brockville and Cornwall.

Eastern Ontario MPPs Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville) and Jim McDonell (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry) were at Northern Cables on California Avenue in Brockville this afternoon (Friday) to make the $774,000 announcement.

Clark says he’s proud of this trades investment at the Brockville and Cornwall St. Lawrence College campuses as the region looks to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

McDonell says it will help with the “disheartening” situation where companies can’t find skilled tradespeople while young people are looking for work.

It’s expected help up to total of 200 students between the two campuses.

A half million dollars will go towards skilled trades learning in electrical, welding and carpentry, while the other $274,000 will be used for so-called “micro-credentials” in high-demand fields like fleet optimization, supply chain software, cloud computing and cyber security.

The money is part of a $37 million Ontario commitment from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.