Page 16 - Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario

will continue to work diligently with employers,

government officials, medical experts, and our

construction unions to make sure that every
possible step is taken to protect the safety and

health of Ontario’s construction workers so that we

get through this pandemic together.

Do you have a message for
young people who may aspire

to start a construction trade as a

long-term career choice?

My message to young people would be that they
can absolutely have a long-lasting, safe, gratifying

and prosperous career in the construction industry

by joining the Building Trades. I would encourage
them to be open-minded, to freely channel

their curiosity as they discover their personal

inclinations about what they like and how they
learn. Successfully navigating different career

options requires patience and an appreciation for an important role in helping to secure that basic

the wide spectrum of construction trades that exist, fairness which may otherwise be lacking. In the
and any one of those trades could be an excellent construction industry, the Building Trades are at the

fit for a variety of young people, including those forefront of fulfilling that role.
who excel at ‘hands-on’ learning. I would strongly

encourage youth to spend some time researching Furthermore, the ‘earn while you learn’ model of

what is involved in each of the construction trades, Building Trades apprenticeship training gives young
and to carefully assess the numerous advantages people unique access to a steadily-increasing

of working in a unionized setting, with respect to source of income that they probably would not
skills, wages, benefits, health and safety. Beyond have access to if they pursued a post-secondary

the purely transactional aspect of the labour market, academic degree, oftentimes incurring significant

there is a social responsibility dimension to all student debt along the way, prior to joining the
workplaces whereby employees ought to be treated workforce. Building Trades offer an exceptional

fairly by their employers. Organized labour plays advantage to the next generation of construction

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