Fanshawe seeks employers to work with pre-apprenticeship program grads

Fanshawe College is looking for employers to work with students graduating from its rapid pre-apprenticeships program.

“We’re looking for employers to join us for when (the students) finish their technical training to come out to do a 12-week placement,” said Heather Carey, manager of Fanshawe’s corporate training solutions department.

The free 18-week pre-apprentice technician programs in carpentry, welding and automotive service were launched in June as a way to direct more people into apprenticeship programs. The Ontario government provided $1.3 million in funding for the programs.

Once they become Level 1 apprentices, students are required to complete 12-week paid work placements in their related trades between October 2023 and January 2024, Carey said.

The program targets “equity serving, underrepresented vulnerable populations” who may not typically have been able to have a career in the trades such as women, disadvantaged groups or newcomers, Carey said.

About 50 people between the ages of 18 and 40 are enrolled in the program, she said.

The college also provides participants with supports such as help to get their high school diploma, language and math programs and employment counselling.

“They will by no means be ready to take over as the full-time welder or mechanic, but they sure will be ready to learn and to enter a team to be trained through an apprenticeship program,” Carey said. “We need a committed employer to join us on that bridge.”

The three pre-apprenticeship programs at Fanshawe are for trades that are in high demand, said Monte McNaughton, an area MPP and minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development.

“We know in the construction trades alone we need 100,000 more tradespeople over the next 10 years focusing on building the 1.5 million homes, as well as public infrastructure programs, the government has planned,” he said earlier this year.

One in three skilled tradespeople is older than 55 with retirement on the horizon.

“So, there is a looming crisis in front of us because many are retiring,” said McNaughton, who represents Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.

The new funding for Fanshawe is part of a provincewide investment of about $28 million in pre-apprenticeships, he said.

Earlier this year, McNaughton said the number of apprenticeship registrations increased to 27,319 in 2022 from 21,971 in 2021.

Employers interested in hosting a work placement can email [email protected].

For more information on placements in the program email Fanshawe Corporate Training Solutions at [email protected].

[email protected]

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