TORONTO — It’s been four years since Ontario’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) was launched in 2021 as a $1.5 billion endeavour to close the skills gap and the results are only going up.
According to the province’s Apprenticeship Impact Tracker, the system has more than 105,124 active apprentices in 2024-25, which is the highest number since 2016 when it was at 73,239.
The fund works through training and capital streams and helps to bolster training opportunities, modernize facilities and speed up apprenticeship in several sectors like construction, manufacturing, automotive and technology.
Over the years the SDF has supported building new training centres and modernizing outdated facilities as well as creating sector-specific training for in-demand trades.
“We’re breaking down barriers to get more youth into rewarding lifelong careers in the skilled trades and our plan is working,” said David Piccini, minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development, in a statement to the Daily Commercial News.
“We’re doubling down on our efforts through the Skills Development Fund to help people get better training, for better jobs, with bigger paycheques. Together, we will continue to protect these important pathways for Ontario workers.”
Regionally, there are several examples of areas that are seeing direct benefits from the SDF, with Windsor receiving $10 million to train more than 2,300 workers in the auto, electrical and construction sectors, along with a new training space; more than $60 million has gone to Kitchener-Waterloo-area training centres for expansion initiatives; northern Ontario has received $17 million to train more than 36,000 workers, including those in Indigenous and remote communities; and in Ottawa SMART Local 47 received $4 million to create the first bilingual sheet metal worker training centre in Ontario.
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