Canada’s trade shortage includes welders and fabricators.

Ontario needs 400,000 trades workers

But youth don’t want those jobs, StatCan says

Tom More
Farmers Forum

OTTAWA — We hear every day that artificial intelligence is going to take over most jobs and a lot of people are going to be unemployed.

But there are two jobs that are safe, that are AI-proof and promise a bright future: farming and the trades.

For young people, however, unless they grow up on a farm, the cost of land is an insurmountable barrier to farming. As for the trades, young people aren’t interested.

Incredible but true. They don’t want to be mechanics, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, welders and roofers because they consider these jobs to be physically difficult, boring and not respected.

According to a Department of Employment survey, published in a report called How do Canadian Youth View Careers in the Trades?, only 13 per cent of high school students plan to work in trades although about one-third say they would consider it.

A 2021 employment survey found that youth were reluctant to work in the trades because of a negative stigma associated with trades. Many students said that work in the trades was “dangerous” and looked at those careers as plan B or as a “second chance.”

Students attracted to the trades pointed to a “good salary”, a “lifelong career” and that you can apprentice “right out of high school and learn on the job.” Students can also get government grants to cover studies and tools of the trade.

Oddly, a TD Bank survey said that 73 % of Gen Z respondents said they would like to run their own business. Yet, it doesn’t occur to them that they can learn a trade, become a specialist in the field and in a few years, start their own business and possibly hire others to work for them.

At a time when government job openings are designed for special interest groups and jobs generally are hard to come by for young Canadians, opportunities in the trades abound. Three main factors have contributed: A huge retiring workforce of skilled baby boomers, a growing population that requires more homes, hospitals and transit systems, and thirdly, industrial automation has ramped up as factories need specialized mechanical and electrical experts.

Statistics Canada identified the labour shortage in 2013 and in 2023 the province of Ontario said that it needs 100,000 more skilled workers for the province’s infrastructure plans and for building new homes. Last year, the province panicked and declared that 400,000 skilled trades people were needed over the next 10 years.

While the province says there is a need for 140 different trades, BuildForce Canada, a research firm that supports the Canadian construction industry, listed in April the “top 10 most in-demand skilled trades right now.” Note that in real-life, trades people tend to earn 20 % to 50 % more than the base salary dues to longer hours, overtime pay, bonuses and other benefits.
top 10 trades

1. Industrial electrician (average base salary: $88,688)

2. Plumber ($75,823) and pipefitter ($98,156)

3. Heavy duty equipment mechanic ($81,069)

4. Welder and fabricator ($90,693)

5. Industrial mechanic/millwright ($93,584)

6. Refrigeration ($95,000) and HVAC technician ($72,689)

7. Carpenter ($76,330)

8. Heavy equipment operator ($70,895)

9. Truck and transport mechanic ($84,372)

10. Construction electrician ($82,346)

But not all is rosy. An Ottawa plumber lamented that the industry is desperate for more plumbers but he and others won’t hire young plumbers. He explained that many young plumbers don’t have a good work ethic, so when you fire them, they sue for $50,000. “You write them a cheque for $20,000 so they’ll go away,” he said.

“It’s a different world,” the plumber told Farmers Forum. “Everything favours them.”

He added that his son and daughter went off to university but now both work for him as plumbers and earn more money.