Are you interested in joining a skilled trade?
Ontario’s annual Level Up! Skilled Trades Career Fair is coming to LaSalle on November 11 and 12.
This will be the eighth stop on a 12-city tour this fall to engage students, parents, and jobseekers with hands-on experience and career connections in over 140 recognized skilled trades.
This comes as Ontario is expected to need approximately 8,500 electricians, 7,200 millwrights, 6,300 welders and 850 ironworkers over the next decade to support critical infrastructure, energy projects and long-term growth.
The event will also feature a dedicated timeslots for schools to visit with their students.
Scott Ravary, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, says the need is there.
“Many employers are struggling to fill positions in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, transportation, and Level Up! is essentially trying to help young people explore these careers early on, and provide hands-on experiences that show them what the trades really are like and the opportunities that you have available to the young people.”
He says it’s important for youth to see that there are jobs available in their backyards.
“The region right now, Windsor-Essex as an example, continues to track major investments in advanced manufacturing, electric vehicle production, and all those other related industries. And projects like NextStar Energy are a great of example of that where there’s demand for skilled trade workers today, so it’s not just in the future, it is actually right now.”
Ravary says there are many opportunities around the province in a range of fields.
“The trades have changed over the years, they’re not what we might traditionally think about when we hear skilled trades... there’s a lot more technology involved, a lot more problem solving, a lot more skill that’s actually required in the skilled trades.”
Level Up! is now in its 5th year.
Career fairs in 2025 saw attendance exceed 60,000.
The fair will be held at the LaSalle Event Centre.
-with files from AM800’s The Shift with guest host Kristen Siapas