Ontario needs innovative skills and apprenticeship training: study

TORONTO – A new study concludes that Ontario needs to get far more creative in order to properly prepare young people for jobs of the future.

The study was commissioned by the Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance which represents companies that employ more than 400,000 skilled trades people across the province.

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It points out that 65 per cent of the current population of elementary school students will end up in careers that don’t yet exist.

To keep pace with advancing technology and help close the skills gap, the report calls for more flexible skills and apprenticeship training.

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It also urges students to dedicate 20 hours of community work to mastering trades and practical skills – and it recommends that more emphasis be placed on creative online learning.

The reports states that up to 41 per cent of Ontario employers would hire more people, if they only had the right skills.