Headline News

Tools in the Trade Boot Camp educates participants on opportunities across Ontario

March 12, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Town of New Tecumseth and Support Ontario Youth hosted a Tools in the Trade Skilled Trades Boot Camp at the town administration centre on Thursday, March 5, introducing attendees to opportunities in the trades.

Ontario is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled workers in the trades, and boot camps offer people a chance to see the job opportunities available to those trained in a particular vocation.

These boot camps are held at locations around the province. The camp in Alliston featured an introduction to HVAC, electrical, and Industrial Millwright trades with hands-on training, skills assessments, and direct engagement with employers and licensed journeypersons.

The event was supported by Honda of Canada Manufacturing and reflects the Town of New Tecumseth’s commitment to workforce development and skilled trades training.

Several local companies helped by showing participants how to wire electrical systems, work on HVAC systems, and use journeyperson tools.

The military sent representatives from both CFB Borden and HMCS York, Royal Canadian Navy Reserve, in Toronto.

“We do boot camps in six different trades. Today we have three trades – HVAC, electrical, and millwright,” explained Melanie Winter, executive director of Support Ontario Youth. “We give participants a starter tool kit so they are going to go home with the tools that if they went out on a job tomorrow, they would have a good start for tools they might use every day as well as a start to some skill sets. We have other programs we do with high schools.”

The boot camp was capped at 55 people, allowing all attendees to receive proper training, and a full complement of applicants showed up to learn about the trades.

Anyone entering an apprenticeship program will receive on-the-job training from experienced professionals in that trade and learn the job through experience over several years before becoming fully certified or licensed.

“We have around 20 partners here today,” Winter explained during the Tools in the Trade Skilled Trades Boot Camp. “We have employers and other community partners. That includes community partners that can help with up-skilling for people who need to improve their math, literacy skills, or digital literacy.”

She added, “We run additional programming, so after today, everyone who is a participant here will have access to additional programming. We offer self-directed learning through an online learning management system as well as online coaching, resumé writing, and interview preparation, so that when they show up to a job interview, they are prepared and have a resumé.”

Participants at the event responded enthusiastically when given the opportunity to experience hands-on work with electrical components, HVAC units, and millwright tools.

The boot camps are designed to spark people’s interest in the trades and, hopefully, steer them toward a rewarding career. 

Readers Comments (0)