Windsor women are training to help fill Ontario’s 400K projected trades worker shortage

As the Ontario government projects 400,000 more skilled trades people will be needed in the province over the next decade to keep up with growth and retirements, a Windsor organization is helping local women get their foot in the door to a trades career.

Windsor women are training to help fill Ontario’s 400K projected trades worker shortage Women in trades an 'untapped market of potential workers' As the Ontario government projects 400,000 more skilled trades people will be needed in the province over the next decade to keep up with growth and retirements, a Windsor organization is helping local women get their foot in the door to a trades career. "We want to be part of the pipeline, the talent pipeline, to put people in these positions," said Rose Anguiano Hurst, the executive director of Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc. (WEST).

WEST is running a week-long hands-on free pre-apprentice training workshop for women to learn more about career opportunities in several skilled trades. It’s put on in partnership with Unifor Canada and Unifor Local 444. The government of Ontario recently gave WEST more than $1.5 million to help fund the training for 60 women.

"We still want to make sure that we have a trained workforce ready to go when things adapt and change," said Anguiano Hurst. According to a new KPMG Canada survey, Canadian manufacturers are already adapting to a changing economic landscape as businesses grapple with U.S. tariffs and ongoing trade uncertainty. Canada slipped into a technical recession on an annualized basis as economic growth stalled in 1st quarter - Listen Where is the Canadian economy headed?

Forty-two per cent of manufacturing businesses surveyed say they have already moved some production to the U.S. or are considering doing so, while 57 per cent say they have paused, reduced or cancelled spending on long-term investment projects. 'I've seen people I know get laid off because of tariffs' The impact of tariffs on career prospects concerns WEST workshop participant Samantha Staines, who wants to become an industrial millwright mechanic. "It does worry me.

I've seen people I know get laid off because of tariffs," said Staines. "I hope it turns into a lifelong career that I feel fulfilled with. Like I want something that's stable, that's going to be there for years to come."

With Windsor’s established roots in manufacturing, Staines is optimistic. "I was driving down the road and I was like 'there's another plant, there's another plant, there's another factory.' And I was like, 'this is the area for trades to be in for Canada at least,'" she said.

The COO of Skilled Trades Ontario — an agency of the provincial Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development — says his office is adapting to marketplace pressures. "If there is an impact, we'll try and make sure that there are opportunities available for people to upskill, change skill, whatever needs to happen from those regards that are there for us," said COO Michael Barnett. Skilled Trades Ontario is responsible for certifying trades workers and establishing and administering apprenticeship programs.

According to Barnett, women in trades is a huge untapped market of potential workers. "We don't want to be providing any governmental barriers for anybody trying to get into and get through their pathway to a skilled trade to gain certification, to have that career," he said. Back at the WEST trades workshop for women, Anguiano Hurst has advice for women interested in skilled trades.

"Give it a shot,” she said. “It’s all about empowerment."