July 28, 2025 • 33 mins
The CWB Association is thrilled to collaborate with Skills/Compétences Canada on a special podcast series. This year, we are excited to interview the Skills Canada Executive Directors from across Canada. Tune in as we explore their skills journey and commitment to promoting skilled trades in their provinces and territories!
Ian Howcroft, Executive Director of Skills Canada Ontario, discusses with us into how this province is transforming the perception and pursuit of skilled trades careers. Ian brings invaluable perspective from his 38-year career journey, transitioning from manufacturing advocacy to leading Skills Canada Ontario for the past seven years. Under his guidance, the organization has expanded to host Canada's largest skills competition, featuring 2,700 competitors across 77 contests and attracting over 40,000 visitors. But what stands out most is their innovative approach to reaching students wherever they are, with mobile trade and tech trucks equipped with welding simulators, 3D printers, and hands-on stations.
Website: https://www.skillsontario.com/
Follow Skills/Compétences Canada:
Website: https://www.skillscompetencescanada.com/en/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkillsCanadaOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skillscompetencescanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skills_canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillscanada
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved, and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, I can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast, pod pod podcast
.
Today we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
(00:27):
podcast.
This week we are doing aspecial run of executive
director interviews for SkillsCanada competencies.
We are having interviews withexecutive directors across
Canada, from coast to coast tocoast.
Today we have Ian HowcrossHowcross.
Wow, I got it good on thepractice, but we're here from
Ontario and how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing very well.
Great to be here at thenational competition.
It's exciting to see all theseyoung people from across the
country competing, meeting newpeople and having a wonderful
experience that will impact andchange our lives.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Well, you know, it's something that I find that's so
wonderful about skills ingeneral, especially the
nationals, is that it's thecompetitors 100%, but the
visitors, the staff, the members, the mentors, the NTCs, the
PTCs, everyone coming together.
How do you walk out of thiswithout being completely
invigorated?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
You can't.
You leave with a great sense ofpurpose and great optimism for
the future of the country whenyou see these young people and
what they'll be doing forthemselves, for their
communities and for the futureeconomy of the country.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, I know For yourself.
How did you get involved withthe skills community?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, I started with a trade association, an advocacy
group about 37, 38 years ago,manufacturing group and every,
and I was with the uh, thatgroup's Canadian manufacturers
and exporters for almost 30years, oh wow.
And every year uh, most years wedid a survey of the members.
What are your priority issues,what are the top issues that are
concerning you, that you'reworried about, that you're
(01:58):
dealing with, that you'rechallenged by and every year I
was there one of the top threeissues was a shortage of skilled
workers.
Yeah, and that still is thecase.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Doesn't it feel like we've been saying that forever?
It has been it has been.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
When I first got there, the chair of our HR
committee asked me to poll thecommittee, find out what the
issues are so we can decide whatour work plan would be.
I did, came back to him andsaid the big issue seems to be a
shortage of skilled workers.
Back to him and said the bigissue seems to be a shortage of
skilled workers.
He goes you know what?
That was a big issue 10 yearsago.
It's going to be an even biggerissue 10 years from now.
But all we do about that istalk, and I'm only chair for two
years, so we're not going tomake any difference in the
(02:32):
skilled challenges that we'reexperiencing.
Find something else for me todo in my two-year tenure and
that stuck with me 38 yearslater.
So I'm pleased to say that withall the work people are doing,
the interest that is beinggenerated, the more attention is
being paid to it.
We're doing more than justtalking about it.
Now we're taking concreteaction and we're building skill
solutions rather than justidentifying skills challenges.
(02:53):
So that was my introduction tothe world of skills and I
continue to be involved in it.
During my entire tenure at CME,I was the lead on some of the
national initiatives we did.
I ran it for the Ontariodivision for CME.
I was the lead on some of thenational initiatives we did.
I ran it for the Ontariodivision for CME.
I was part of a nationalorganization so we got together
to deal with some of thesenational issues and public
policy issues around.
(03:14):
What do we do to build a skillsculture in the country?
We were focusing onmanufacturing, but it crossed
over all sectors, all sectors.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
yeah, Now, when you came in, how long have you been
ED now I've been at SkillsOntario for just over seven
years now Seven years.
So when you came in seven yearsago you had a fairly decent
understanding of the trades.
As working with CME, I'm sureyou got introduced to a variety
(03:54):
of not all, not all.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Did you have much of a learning curve transitioning
to that you know for-profitenvironment, where you know it's
industry-based, to now more ofa community CSEME was a
not-for-profit advocacy group.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Skills.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Ontario is a not-for-profit skills promotion
organization, so that wasn't atough challenge.
But you're learning thebusiness, you're learning the
issues, you're continuing tolook for the relationships you
need to be able to move thingsforward.
And what are the programs we'reoffering?
What are the programs that weneed to offer and how can we
(04:28):
learn from what's being doneacross the country with all the
other member organizations inthe Skills Network family, and
it's a great organization towork with, because everybody is
passionate about what we do,they're interested in what we do
and they want to make sure thatthey're sharing their successes
so that others can learn andbenefit from what we're all
doing across the country.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well, and you brought up something that's a question
that I had slated is that everyprovince has to rely on their
and territory has to rely ontheir sponsor network.
They're the people that supportthem, the people that are
advocates for them, or even,just, you know, community
partners.
Ontario is no different.
You know, I've heard lots ofbarriers for some of the
(05:02):
territories lack of industry,lack of partners, because it's
more isolated but Ontariodoesn't have that issue.
You're kind of like the hub.
You know of so many things inCanada.
So how do you manage thesponsor networks?
How do you manage having thefunds, because, I mean, it's a
huge team that you bring everyyear.
So how do you work with that?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, we have always had great support from the
Ontario and federal governmentsand I have to recognize and
applaud particularly the Ontariogovernment because they've
really increased their supportfor skilled trades and for the
promotion of skilled trades andwe've increased our partnership
and what we're doing with them.
So we depend on themsignificantly for what they
(05:44):
contribute and the way that wework together.
But also, when I got to SkillsOntario, my board said we want
to have a more diverse revenuestream.
We have to make sure that we'regrowing in the areas we need to
grow and we need funds tosupport that.
So we've been buildingpartnerships with all the
colleges, with school boards,with manufacturing companies,
(06:07):
construction companies, servicecompanies, technology companies,
to make sure we're covering allsectors of where skills are
needed and how we can bring theminto engagement with us.
So I view myself as the chiefrelationship officer.
How do we get out there andmake sure people are aware of
what we're doing?
Relationship officer how do weget out there and make sure
people are aware of what we'redoing?
(06:27):
And I have to say we've hadgreat success, great interest
with the business community,with labor unions, with the
others that we're talking with.
We have about a thousandvolunteers that work with us to
deliver our programming.
We have about 45 staff rightnow, which is significant for a
nonprofit organization inOntario, but we couldn't do what
we do without the thousandvolunteers and those who are
(06:47):
committed to working with us,helping us to build the
organization.
We probably have over 200partners as well that come out.
Some provide us with directfunding, some provide us with
in-kind support and servicesConsumables.
Consumables.
Yeah, we need that.
We have our competition at thebeginning of May and it's the
largest competition in thecountry.
(07:09):
We have over 2,700 competitorsin 77 contests.
We had just over 40,000visitors, I think, this year,
and it's an enormous undertakingand the costs are significant
and without those volunteerscoming out and helping, us set
up it couldn't happen.
So we really appreciate thevolunteers that we have, the
(07:29):
partners that we have and thetwo biggest partners, the
federal government andparticularly the Ontario
government.
So we've done very well and Ithink we're seeing a difference.
We're making a differencebecause I think people are
focusing on yeah, these are goodcareers, these are excellent
opportunities for young people.
We still, I think, need to domore with parents, because some
(07:49):
parents are still we want you togo to university, but I think
more parents are saying well, weknow people that did go to
university and they're stilllooking for work or a career.
And so more parents are saying,hey, maybe we should look at
that skill trade career, thattechnology career.
And so more parents are saying,hey, maybe we should look at
that, that skill trade career,that technology career.
So so I I do sense a realchange in attitudes and we're
(08:11):
having a lot more interest andwe're seeing a lot more positive
results from from what we'redoing.
Like we had record numbers ofcompetitors this year and record
numbers last year.
So that shows me there's, we're, we're, we are getting into the
, the, the right mindset of of,of students, of teachers, uh and
and this year of this, ourthird year, I think of hosting a
conference for guidancecounselors.
We have, we have 450 guidancecounselors come out to uh have a
(08:35):
focused uh day long programwhich also gave them the
opportunity to tour the careerfair, to tour the competition
site, uh to look at what we'redoing in some of the other
conferences.
We do a young women's conference, we do an Indigenous FNMI
conference, we do one forentrepreneurship.
So it's a great opportunity,great experience and again to
see, like here, all those youngpeople excited and passionate.
(08:58):
You can hear me talk about it,you can look at videos, you can
look at pictures, but when youcome to it, as you see here and
as you see at ours and theothers across the country, it
has that wow factor.
It really makes an impact onpeople who come to it, Because I
invited some of my oldcolleagues from some of the
manufacturing members that wehad and they'd come out to it
and they said I have no idea itwas so big.
(09:18):
I had no idea it was soimpressive.
How do I hire those youngpeople who have the skills that
I'm looking for?
So it's great to get themengaged and get more and more
companies involved in developingand working on those skills
solutions, rather than justsaying what are we doing?
We don't have the skilledworkers we need.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah, and you know, when you look at the
requirements that we're going toneed with our skilled workforce
going forward and this issomething we've been talking
about for 30 years and we didn'tdo much about it till about 10
years ago, when we actually gotscared, which was probably 50
years too late Like, if youstart looking at the cycles, not
only do we need to bring in theworkers, not like, not only do
(09:56):
we need to have this theworkforce translate into real
labor, we also need to glamorizethe trade so that we don't have
this problem again.
We should have never stoppedsending kids to trade school.
That should have never been athing, and we should learn from
that mistake, because we it'sthey're so adjacent, there's not
(10:18):
a defining line betweenacademia and trades, and that
people need to get that out oftheir heads.
Yeah, you can become a welderand a doctor.
There is doctorates of weldingengineers, like I mean, you can
pursue one and end up over hereand vice versa, and and that's
and that's what we need.
We need that kind ofpartnership going forward.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
yeah, I couldn't agree more.
And what we try and do is, uh,open's eyes, open people's minds
and open opportunities forpeople who are looking at what
educational pathway should Itake and how does that lead to
my career pathway.
And we've had, as I said, thegood fortune to have a lot of
partners.
We have a staff that goes intothe schools.
Last year we did over 2,000presentations in the school
(11:02):
system.
During the year, we holdconferences and trade and tech
days around the province forgirls and young women, for
indigenous youth, for otherunderrepresented groups to get
to.
We do some for parents, whichis great because that's a market
we do, and we want to do morewith guidance counselors and
other educators.
So there's a but there's, Ihave to say, there's more
receptivity to that message nowand when we go into the schools
(11:24):
there's a lot more interest.
And I want to say one otherthing that we're doing right now
is we know some schools andsome people didn't necessarily
have a what we used to call atech class in the school.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Right, right, so we Don't put those back in?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
They are, but they're expensive and it takes time.
So we developed a trade in techtruck, so it's a mobile unit
Nice, so we can take it to theschool so students can see what
it's like to drive a crane or abulldozer or a dump truck.
We have a welding simulator, wehave painting simulators, we
have auto stations, hydraulicstations, safety stations, 3d
printing.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
A little bit of everything.
A little bit of everything.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
A little bit of everything and that went really
well.
So we've built three more ofthese mobile units.
So there's great interest inthat and again that was done
through the partnership with theOntario government.
What we're trying to do isagain get that experiential, try
a trade opportunity youngpeople, so they can see what
they want.
Now some people might say, no,it's not what I want, which is
fine.
But what we're trying to doagain is open eyes so that
(12:18):
people have the full array ofopportunities open to them so
they can make that educationaldecision and that career
decision.
It's great when somebody wantsto change their careers later,
but if you get that informationto them sooner, perhaps they
could get on that track muchsooner, if that's what they want
to do.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It might have happened already.
Yeah, I feel in a lot of ways,covid was a bit of a reset for
that, because it really put thefocus on the fact that the
trades don't stop.
It's not.
Uh, trades aren't optional.
Right, trades are.
Trades are necessary.
There.
There's a lot of things thatbecame very optional during a
global crisis.
Right, like getting certainaspects of life just were not
(12:57):
important anymore.
But but plumbing, electricians,welders, water management these
things never stopped beingimportant.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And it was highlighted too, we had a
shortage of PPE during thepandemic, so we need to
manufacture that.
You need the workers to go intothe manufacturing facilities to
do that, but you need themillwrights, you need the
machine operators to keep allthat equipment going.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
You need the auto folks to keep the trucks going.
And then Power needs to come in.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Water needs to run, yeah, so I think that the
pandemic, negative though it was, it did highlight these are
important jobs and peoplerealize, hey, we need to have
that done.
We can't get by without havinga skilled workforce.
And it also highlight the factthat the demographics are we're
seeing more people going to beretiring than coming in right
now.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
It's already starting .
We have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So we want to make sure that young people are aware
of these opportunities,particularly those from the
underrepresented groups.
Our director of competition isa millwright.
She was a gold medal winner forSkills Ontario.
She was a silver medal winnerfor Skills Canada, skills
Competence Canada.
She worked for a big auto parkscompany in Ontario.
(14:01):
Then she worked for one of theschool boards doing
manufacturing and constructionfor them, and she was always a
volunteer with us.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
So we were able to recruit her.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when she told me when I started I was one of the
only two millwrights, I think,in her class who were women and
she said that 3% of millwrightswere female.
And she says good news is it'sdoubled percent of uh
millwrights were female.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And she says, uh, good news is it's doubled, but
the bad news is that's still sixpercent, so we still have still
terrible still have a long,long way to go.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So these again are excellent opportunities that
we're trying to highlight andmake sure people are aware of
that now, you mentioned a coupletimes about getting out across
ontario.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Now, ontario's big you got a lot of land and then
once you get north of Sudbury itgets real remote right Now.
How do you manage the logisticsof trying to coordinate so many
volunteers, so many people, somany like regional competitions
that have to happen, that worktowards this?
How do you do all that?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Through relationships , through partnerships and
through organization.
You're right, it is a hugelandmass and there's still more
we want to do.
One of our focuses is doingmore regional events.
I mean, we have our big eventin Toronto, but we also know
that not everybody can come toToronto, so how do we get out
there?
One of the things the pandemicmade us pretty proficient at was
(15:13):
offering virtual opportunities.
So we had our FNMI conferencein Toronto, but we also did a
virtual version of that forthose that couldn't get here.
We're also trying to make surewe have staff around the
province so we go and holdconferences in Thunder Bay, in
Dryden, in Kenora.
I was talking to someone fromTimmins yesterday.
They wanted us to come up toTimmins.
(15:34):
We did a very large FNMIIndigenous conference in Sault
Ste Marie a month or two ago.
We had 1,300 youth out inperson for that.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
We went to a regional in Sault.
Ste Marie two years ago and wewere amazed at the number of
people.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The interest is there and the demand is there, and
the industry is there.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
There's lots of mines and manufacturing plants in the
area.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And we have great partnership with many of those
companies.
In Sault Ste Marie we did around table with two of our new
partners there.
We have Algoma and Tenera Steel, and Sue College is a partner
there, so we were talking about,you know, what can we do to
better ensure young people havean awareness of the
opportunities and how they, oncethey're interested?
We also want to make sure howdo we help them along their
(16:16):
journey?
Yeah, so it's good.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Another piece of the puzzle, you know, in terms of
getting everyone together isgetting the school boards and
the guidance counselors on board.
That's been a struggle I'veheard in a lot of provinces.
We just like the CWB.
We just held a Halton guidancecounselor tour there.
We also see that as an issue.
But I think even further.
One step further and youmentioned it once was the
(16:38):
parents.
You know, how do we get theinformation in front of the
parents?
How do we start breaking downthose biases about these type of
opportunities?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And that's probably the hardest audience to get to,
because you can go to thestudents and the schools, the
educators the businesses.
So it's harder to get to theparents.
But again, during the pandemic,when people weren't necessarily
working, we did a lot of parentoutreach and engagement.
We sent kits to families, wedid family movie nights try to
tie it to a movie that raisedthe issue of skills and we'd
(17:09):
send them a kit to do.
And we worked with one of themovie chains and sent movie
codes so they could watch themovie and do that, trying to get
parents aware of the issues.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Was the welding from Star Wars in there?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
No, we weren't able to get that.
That's on our list, but wehaven't been able to do that yet
, but it's on our list.
So what we're trying to do iswe invite the parents to come to
our competition and to see it,and some do.
And I think we're seeing moreparents interested in this,
wanting to learn more andreceptive attitude towards this,
Whereas before it was oh no, Ithink it used to be.
I'm not interested in theskilled trades, and skilled
(17:43):
trades are great careers for myneighbor's kids For others, yeah
, and now it's hey, this issomething I think my son or
daughter might be really good ator interested in, so let's help
them do that.
And, as you say, it opens doors.
You can become an electrician,become a welder, you can become
a chef and slide into something,but do something else.
That's why we were reallypleased to host that
entrepreneurship one, becausesome of the people want to start
in this, but they want to starttheir own business and hire
(18:05):
others and help others and wehave, uh, one of our board
members.
Uh, she came uh from iraq as ateenager, didn't speak english,
and the teacher said, hey,there's a hairstyling
competition.
And she said, uh, who wants todo that?
She's put her her hand up.
So she went, introduced her tothat, she went through, became
an apprentice, became ahairstylist, has her own
(18:27):
hairstyling business now andemploys apprentices, and it just
changed her lives.
And that's what we like to say.
We say we promote skilledtrades and technology careers to
young people, but we changedour strategic plan to fashion a
little differently, say we'rechanging lives and inspiring
leaders through skilled tradesand technologies.
And that's what makes me reallypleased when you see what what
(18:47):
someone's done with their lifethrough the skilled trades,
through their exposure andengagement with Skills
Competence Canada or SkillsOntario or one of the other
member organizations across thecountry, it's just a great,
great feeling and a greatopportunity to continue to
promote.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I was looking at some memes on Instagram the other
day because I saw a little bitof brain rot and you know,
there's just been this messagethat's been rolling around with
Gen Alpha and Gen Z We'll neverbuy a house, we'll never be able
to own a car, we'll be in debtfrom birth to death.
There's just this kind ofmessaging that's going around
(19:21):
about how the youth won't beable to afford in the future.
And I mean I don't love thecost of living increases, I
don't love how expensive thingsare and how hard things are for
our youth.
I think that we did a poor jobof setting them up, really.
But on the other end of that,one of the memes I saw was these
kids.
There's a picture, a cartoon.
(19:41):
On the left, these kids arelike you know, they look like
youngsters and they're sayingyou know, my future is going to
be terrible, I can never buy ahouse.
And on the right there's a kidwearing a welding helmet and
said I'll be fine.
You know and I thought aboutthat, it's like these.
You know, we got 500competitors in this room.
I bet they're all fine, youknow what I mean and they will
(20:01):
be able to do the things theywant to do.
And yes, maybe it'll be moreexpensive and yes, maybe the
days of RSPs are gone and thatthe bubble of the eighties that
was kind of a maybe a fantasythat we lived in, but they'll be
fine, they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, and I think that's the message we want to
get out there that you'll befine, or you'll have a best
chance of being fine, if youhave a skilled education, if you
have a job that you can getinto, a career that you can find
and you enjoy that gives youthat security.
Many of them you know in theconstruction trade, some of the
manufacturers.
You have a pension.
(20:35):
You have a good income,benefits.
There's always going to bechallenges.
We'll have to deal with that.
But you're better placed todeal with those challenges if
you're a skilled worker.
That's right.
If you've got that,competencies that can be
marketable and can help you moveforward, no matter what's
happening, because there'salways going to be challenges.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
There's always going to be issues.
I've gone through three globalrecessions now in my career as a
welder.
I never lost my job.
You know, when I say that topeople, it's like it's not a
thing that happened in my world.
I mean, the plant still had torun regardless.
You know what I mean.
And I think that that's maybestarting to hit home more now.
(21:12):
Right, yeah, and especially asthe boomers are going out and
like I mean, my parents justretired and they felt like their
whole life was a lie.
You know, put your money intoRSPs, put your money into GICs,
invest, invest, invest everypenny, because you're going to
have this fantastic retirementand then they retire and
nothing's worth anything that itwas supposed to be worth.
And it's like, you know, thatwasn't the right message that we
(21:33):
were pushing.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
But I think the right message is always going to be
find a career that you can enjoyand find a career that's going
to be marketable and will helpyou move forward and give
security to yourself, to yourfamily, to your community and
help move things forward.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Keep the chain going.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And what's here, and the skill trades and technology
careers are broader than mostpeople think.
You walk around here and yousee things that people wouldn't
even think are skill trades 2Danimation.
3d animation some of the otherones that we do.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
We introduced this year cybersecurity as a new
competition, and that's huge.
That's the future right there.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So last year we did drywalling, which wasn't a new
career, but we hadn't had it,and I'm terrified.
I'm a terrible drywaller, so wewon't ask you to be a judge in
that one.
No, no, welding's my game andthe year before that we added
advanced and additivemanufacturing.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I love that, which is up and coming.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well, it's been up and coming for a while now, but
it's something that we want tomake sure that our competition
Well, and the colleges- have thecourses, so you want everything
to ladder into something, rightyeah?
And we want our programming toresonate with the students and
give them the information thatthey need and the experience and
the try-and-trade opportunitiesthat will help them make those
decisions.
Yeah, need and the experienceand the try trade opportunities
that will help them make thosedecisions yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Now let's talk about this event here in Regina.
You know how many did you bringin.
What was your team total?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We have about 69 competitors and our total team
is about 130 people and thatincludes the uh, the advisors,
the supporters, the coaches forfor the students, and we have
about five uh five staff here,including me uh to to support
the team and to help the team.
That's a pretty big team.
Yes, it is.
It's probably the largest one,but we're from the largest
province, I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
BC, I think, was right behind you at 60.
Yeah, they had a big team,bigger than normal, about 10
more than they normally bring,but it's great to see.
I mean, you look at the Nunavutwho has before in the past.
I remember a decade ago oneperson would come and now they
got 14.
So you're seeing this organicgrowth of skills.
But ontario is one of the ogskills, right, they're one of
(23:28):
the original group of skillsmembers.
Um, do you feel that there'sstill more room to grow like it
should like?
Are you hoping for bigger teams?
Are you hoping for more trades?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
uh, involvement, I I think there's still great
opportunities, uh, to grow ourprogramming and to keep it fresh
, as I say, so it resonates withthe audience, our audiences,
because we want parents, we wantthem to see it.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
We want to work with the educators.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So we're always like what should we add?
Ai is a big thing that's goingto have a huge impact on
everything, so what do we needto do about that?
So we have to work with theschool boards as to what are the
competitions you think we needto do.
We try and tie everything we doto the curriculum for the
students to make it as it allladders together.
So it all ladders together asyou say.
So I think there's lots ofopportunity.
We're making efforts and makingsure that we are as inclusive
(24:15):
as we can be.
I have to proudly say that ourorganization won a diversity
award last night in Toronto.
Wonderful, so we're reallypleased with that programming
that we're offering, becausethere's underrepresented groups,
so let's build a pool ofpotential workers and we need
them.
We do so.
Let's make it easier for peopleto get the information they
need, to get the assistance thatwe need and what we want to do.
(24:37):
And you look around at how manyvolunteers are here and across
the country and people are onlytoo happy to help, to share
their experience, to share howthey were successful, to share
how they got over the challengesthey were dealing with.
We try and connect mentors andbring mentors in so people can
see hey, that person did it, Ican do it.
And talk to people.
Reach out, start with SkillsOntario, start with our website,
but make some connections.
(24:57):
Reach out.
People are only too happy tohelp and they say what if you
talk to someone who's not happy?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Well, then, helpful, well move on to the next person,
so that's good you found outthat person wasn't somebody you
can help.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
but most people are only too happy to try and help
young people find themselves,find their career and move
forward.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Now, every province has their local industry, things
that they do best within theirprovince.
You know obvious ones likeAlberta oil and gas,
saskatchewan ag.
You know BC and their maritimeshipbuilding.
Now, what would you say wouldbe Ontario's strong points in
terms of their industry and howit relates to skills?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Well, ontario is known for a big manufacturing.
It's the manufacturing clusterfor the country.
It's across the country as well, a national organization I know
it was in every province andterritory but Ontario has the
largest, densest manufacturingpopulation.
Construction is huge as well.
Infrastructure is huge there.
The service sector, you know wehave a huge demand for the
(25:56):
service sector and it's growing.
Technology is a huge area aswell, and even manufacturing is
so large it's broken down.
You have the auto sector,motive power, you have the other
manufacturing aspects of it.
So that's what we're known for.
We have mining, though, in thenorth and there's a new focus on
the ring of fire.
How do we mine that and how dowe process that and how do we
(26:17):
deal with the upcoming economyand those upcoming opportunities
that we have?
So we, as I said, we have 77contests and we try and add one
or two each year to giveeverybody a sense as to what a
skilled trade career could be,what a technology career could
be.
So it's something that's ajourney for us to make sure that
our programming is fresh andgets the message out, provides
(26:40):
the assistance route for peopleto follow if they're interested
in that.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, and now I'm back to the competition here
with 69 competitors 60.
Oh sorry, 60 competitors and130 in total.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
you said yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Now, with that many people here, how do you keep
them all pumped?
Some of them have maybe neverleft the province, Some maybe
have never flown.
You know you've got a wholedifferent variety of people at
different levels.
There's anxiety, there'snervousness, there's.
How do you pull that alltogether and how do you keep
everyone focused?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Well, the staff we have are really great at
supporting, encouraging andproviding assistance to them.
We have the 60 other people onour team that are there to coach
and provide that assistance.
We want to make sure thatpeople are aware of what they
should expect.
Our competitions team has beengreat on that.
If you've gone through ourcompetition, it's similar to
(27:35):
this one, so you're prepared forit.
But you're right, it's alife-changing opportunity and
experience for many people.
I talked to one person I thinkit was in Vancouver.
I said this is your first timein Vancouver and he said this is
my first time on an airplane.
And the person went on to win agold medal and moved on to, I
think, world skills, and it isgreat.
So what we want to do is makesure people feel comfortable and
(27:57):
they have the support necessaryto do as well as they can do.
If you've made it to SkillsCompetence Canada competition,
you're already a winner.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You've already excelled in the territory and
you put your neck out there,which is very hard to do.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
But it is nerve-wracking.
It is as you say.
It's the first time someone'sbeen away from home, perhaps but
they have a team here, theyhave a support system here, and
that's what I like about theSkills Competence Canada
competition.
It's Team Ontario, it's TeamManitoba, it's Team Saskatchewan
, team Nunavut, and they'resupporting each other, they're
helping each other.
I love seeing thoserelationships build and some
(28:31):
will be lifelong relationshipsthat you have.
You meet here for alife-changing experience and you
meet people that will connectwith you.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
You'll be on your cell phone for the rest of your
life.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So we try and do all we can do to help support our
team when we're here, and someof them are just living on
excitement and energy right nowas well, so it's great.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Now, what about the first thoughts of Regina?
I don't know if you've everbeen to Regina, I've been here
before, but I'm sure most of thepeople that you've brought
haven't been.
What are your first thoughts ofour city?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Well, it's a wonderful city.
I've been really impressed withit.
The people have been great,friendly, helpful.
But what?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I was most impressed with was the facilities you have
here.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I'm from Hamilton and I said we don't have facilities
like this in Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
This is the largest interconnected conference center
in North America.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
I learned that yeah, and I was.
When I was told that thecompetition was going to be here
on China, I said do they have afacility big enough?
They have the largest in thecountry.
I didn't know, North America,the largest in the country.
So it's an amazing facility, soit's been a very positive
experience.
I've been to Saskatchewan a fewtimes in my former career in
national organizations, so, butit's great to get them to come
(29:43):
back and be here for a while and, uh, I hadn't been at this
center before, so it's nice tosee and experience that.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, and how have you liked the?
Speaker 2 (29:51):
center.
So far it's been great.
It's uh, it's enormous.
Uh, there's lots of parking wewe noted that as well.
The parking is great for theconference center, for the
stadium, for the arena.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
It's a it's an amazing facility yeah, so now,
coming towards the end of theinterview, a couple questions
just to wrap it up.
You know, as a spectator nowput on your spectator lens,
you're walking through.
You've been through, I'm sure,all the buildings and checked it
all out.
What are your top three thatyou like to sit and watch?
Which three trades orcompetitions?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
do you like to watch?
Well, that's an unfair question, because I like them all and I
don't want to show favoritism,but no, I think the ones that I
really like to watch are some ofthe culinary ones, because you
watch something being createdand everybody loves food
particularly me.
So that's one I like to watch.
That's one of our most popularones, and hairstyling is always
(30:48):
good to watch too, because againyou see something being
creative and you know, roboticsis always interesting to watch.
that's up and coming, but you'rejust walking around the
bricklaying and the landscapearchitecture they're all just
fantastic to watch.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Landscaping, baking and cooking and hairstyling have
been like the top three.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Okay, I'm close, then that's good, that's good, but
they're all fascinating.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
But only one person picked welding, which, oh, come
on.
Because you're behind thescreens.
That's right.
That's right.
Okay, and for the last questionfor yourself, knowing what you
know through your extensivecareer trades adjacent and now
working with the trades, withskills going back in time, you
know, to being a young Ian andstarting over, but you know
(31:33):
everything about the trades.
Which one do you pick to startyour life over with?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The one I would enjoy .
Well, most would be probably inthe culinary arts, and we have
an app that we designed Peoplecould do an assessment of
themselves, and it recommendedtwo courses for me.
One was working with youth andthe other was culinary.
Okay, and I enjoy that, but Idon't think I would like the
high-paced restaurant life.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Private chef.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
I need that, or just I use cooking to relax and enjoy
a nice meal, but I found outthere's so many career
opportunities and optionsavailable, but those are the
ones that I probably would enjoythe most.
I'm creating something and I dolove food.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So it fits my hobby Well.
I hope you get out to lots ofrestaurants in Regina.
We're famous for ourrestaurants.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, I was impressed with that too.
I had a nice meal at a Japaneserestaurant last night.
Oh which one did you go to?
I can't remember the name, butit's across from the Doubletree.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Across.
Oh Juan, yeah, the food wasgreat.
Best ramen in town yeah, it wasgreat, it was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I actually had the udon, but it was close, it was
great.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Thank you, max.
I really appreciate you beingon the show today.
Thank you, it was great, reallyappreciate it.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
And for all the people that have been following
along with the episodes here,there's 13 total ED episodes
here for Skills, so if you'vestumbled into this one, make
sure you catch them all.
They're all fantastic.
Learn Canada and all the greatwork that they're doing.
(33:05):
We'll catch you at the nextepisode, so take care.
We hope you enjoy the show.
All right, I can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast, pod pod podcast
.
Today we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
(00:27):
podcast.
This week we are doing aspecial run of executive
director interviews for SkillsCanada competencies.
We are having interviews withexecutive directors across
Canada, from coast to coast tocoast.
Today we have Ian HowcrossHowcross.
Wow, I got it good on thepractice, but we're here from
Ontario and how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing very well.
Great to be here at thenational competition.
It's exciting to see all theseyoung people from across the
country competing, meeting newpeople and having a wonderful
experience that will impact andchange our lives.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Well, you know, it's something that I find that's so
wonderful about skills ingeneral, especially the
nationals, is that it's thecompetitors 100%, but the
visitors, the staff, the members, the mentors, the NTCs, the
PTCs, everyone coming together.
How do you walk out of thiswithout being completely
invigorated?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
You can't.
You leave with a great sense ofpurpose and great optimism for
the future of the country whenyou see these young people and
what they'll be doing forthemselves, for their
communities and for the futureeconomy of the country.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, I know For yourself.
How did you get involved withthe skills community?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, I started with a trade association, an advocacy
group about 37, 38 years ago,manufacturing group and every,
and I was with the uh, thatgroup's Canadian manufacturers
and exporters for almost 30years, oh wow.
And every year uh, most years wedid a survey of the members.
What are your priority issues,what are the top issues that are
concerning you, that you'reworried about, that you're
(01:58):
dealing with, that you'rechallenged by and every year I
was there one of the top threeissues was a shortage of skilled
workers.
Yeah, and that still is thecase.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Doesn't it feel like we've been saying that forever?
It has been it has been.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
When I first got there, the chair of our HR
committee asked me to poll thecommittee, find out what the
issues are so we can decide whatour work plan would be.
I did, came back to him andsaid the big issue seems to be a
shortage of skilled workers.
Back to him and said the bigissue seems to be a shortage of
skilled workers.
He goes you know what?
That was a big issue 10 yearsago.
It's going to be an even biggerissue 10 years from now.
But all we do about that istalk, and I'm only chair for two
years, so we're not going tomake any difference in the
(02:32):
skilled challenges that we'reexperiencing.
Find something else for me todo in my two-year tenure and
that stuck with me 38 yearslater.
So I'm pleased to say that withall the work people are doing,
the interest that is beinggenerated, the more attention is
being paid to it.
We're doing more than justtalking about it.
Now we're taking concreteaction and we're building skill
solutions rather than justidentifying skills challenges.
(02:53):
So that was my introduction tothe world of skills and I
continue to be involved in it.
During my entire tenure at CME,I was the lead on some of the
national initiatives we did.
I ran it for the Ontariodivision for CME.
I was the lead on some of thenational initiatives we did.
I ran it for the Ontariodivision for CME.
I was part of a nationalorganization so we got together
to deal with some of thesenational issues and public
policy issues around.
(03:14):
What do we do to build a skillsculture in the country?
We were focusing onmanufacturing, but it crossed
over all sectors, all sectors.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
yeah, Now, when you came in, how long have you been
ED now I've been at SkillsOntario for just over seven
years now Seven years.
So when you came in seven yearsago you had a fairly decent
understanding of the trades.
As working with CME, I'm sureyou got introduced to a variety
(03:54):
of not all, not all.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Did you have much of a learning curve transitioning
to that you know for-profitenvironment, where you know it's
industry-based, to now more ofa community CSEME was a
not-for-profit advocacy group.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Skills.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Ontario is a not-for-profit skills promotion
organization, so that wasn't atough challenge.
But you're learning thebusiness, you're learning the
issues, you're continuing tolook for the relationships you
need to be able to move thingsforward.
And what are the programs we'reoffering?
What are the programs that weneed to offer and how can we
(04:28):
learn from what's being doneacross the country with all the
other member organizations inthe Skills Network family, and
it's a great organization towork with, because everybody is
passionate about what we do,they're interested in what we do
and they want to make sure thatthey're sharing their successes
so that others can learn andbenefit from what we're all
doing across the country.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well, and you brought up something that's a question
that I had slated is that everyprovince has to rely on their
and territory has to rely ontheir sponsor network.
They're the people that supportthem, the people that are
advocates for them, or even,just, you know, community
partners.
Ontario is no different.
You know, I've heard lots ofbarriers for some of the
(05:02):
territories lack of industry,lack of partners, because it's
more isolated but Ontariodoesn't have that issue.
You're kind of like the hub.
You know of so many things inCanada.
So how do you manage thesponsor networks?
How do you manage having thefunds, because, I mean, it's a
huge team that you bring everyyear.
So how do you work with that?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, we have always had great support from the
Ontario and federal governmentsand I have to recognize and
applaud particularly the Ontariogovernment because they've
really increased their supportfor skilled trades and for the
promotion of skilled trades andwe've increased our partnership
and what we're doing with them.
So we depend on themsignificantly for what they
(05:44):
contribute and the way that wework together.
But also, when I got to SkillsOntario, my board said we want
to have a more diverse revenuestream.
We have to make sure that we'regrowing in the areas we need to
grow and we need funds tosupport that.
So we've been buildingpartnerships with all the
colleges, with school boards,with manufacturing companies,
(06:07):
construction companies, servicecompanies, technology companies,
to make sure we're covering allsectors of where skills are
needed and how we can bring theminto engagement with us.
So I view myself as the chiefrelationship officer.
How do we get out there andmake sure people are aware of
what we're doing?
Relationship officer how do weget out there and make sure
people are aware of what we'redoing?
(06:27):
And I have to say we've hadgreat success, great interest
with the business community,with labor unions, with the
others that we're talking with.
We have about a thousandvolunteers that work with us to
deliver our programming.
We have about 45 staff rightnow, which is significant for a
nonprofit organization inOntario, but we couldn't do what
we do without the thousandvolunteers and those who are
(06:47):
committed to working with us,helping us to build the
organization.
We probably have over 200partners as well that come out.
Some provide us with directfunding, some provide us with
in-kind support and servicesConsumables.
Consumables.
Yeah, we need that.
We have our competition at thebeginning of May and it's the
largest competition in thecountry.
(07:09):
We have over 2,700 competitorsin 77 contests.
We had just over 40,000visitors, I think, this year,
and it's an enormous undertakingand the costs are significant
and without those volunteerscoming out and helping, us set
up it couldn't happen.
So we really appreciate thevolunteers that we have, the
(07:29):
partners that we have and thetwo biggest partners, the
federal government andparticularly the Ontario
government.
So we've done very well and Ithink we're seeing a difference.
We're making a differencebecause I think people are
focusing on yeah, these are goodcareers, these are excellent
opportunities for young people.
We still, I think, need to domore with parents, because some
(07:49):
parents are still we want you togo to university, but I think
more parents are saying well, weknow people that did go to
university and they're stilllooking for work or a career.
And so more parents are saying,hey, maybe we should look at
that skill trade career, thattechnology career.
And so more parents are saying,hey, maybe we should look at
that, that skill trade career,that technology career.
So so I I do sense a realchange in attitudes and we're
(08:11):
having a lot more interest andwe're seeing a lot more positive
results from from what we'redoing.
Like we had record numbers ofcompetitors this year and record
numbers last year.
So that shows me there's, we're, we're, we are getting into the
, the, the right mindset of of,of students, of teachers, uh and
and this year of this, ourthird year, I think of hosting a
conference for guidancecounselors.
We have, we have 450 guidancecounselors come out to uh have a
(08:35):
focused uh day long programwhich also gave them the
opportunity to tour the careerfair, to tour the competition
site, uh to look at what we'redoing in some of the other
conferences.
We do a young women's conference, we do an Indigenous FNMI
conference, we do one forentrepreneurship.
So it's a great opportunity,great experience and again to
see, like here, all those youngpeople excited and passionate.
(08:58):
You can hear me talk about it,you can look at videos, you can
look at pictures, but when youcome to it, as you see here and
as you see at ours and theothers across the country, it
has that wow factor.
It really makes an impact onpeople who come to it, Because I
invited some of my oldcolleagues from some of the
manufacturing members that wehad and they'd come out to it
and they said I have no idea itwas so big.
(09:18):
I had no idea it was soimpressive.
How do I hire those youngpeople who have the skills that
I'm looking for?
So it's great to get themengaged and get more and more
companies involved in developingand working on those skills
solutions, rather than justsaying what are we doing?
We don't have the skilledworkers we need.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah, and you know, when you look at the
requirements that we're going toneed with our skilled workforce
going forward and this issomething we've been talking
about for 30 years and we didn'tdo much about it till about 10
years ago, when we actually gotscared, which was probably 50
years too late Like, if youstart looking at the cycles, not
only do we need to bring in theworkers, not like, not only do
(09:56):
we need to have this theworkforce translate into real
labor, we also need to glamorizethe trade so that we don't have
this problem again.
We should have never stoppedsending kids to trade school.
That should have never been athing, and we should learn from
that mistake, because we it'sthey're so adjacent, there's not
(10:18):
a defining line betweenacademia and trades, and that
people need to get that out oftheir heads.
Yeah, you can become a welderand a doctor.
There is doctorates of weldingengineers, like I mean, you can
pursue one and end up over hereand vice versa, and and that's
and that's what we need.
We need that kind ofpartnership going forward.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
yeah, I couldn't agree more.
And what we try and do is, uh,open's eyes, open people's minds
and open opportunities forpeople who are looking at what
educational pathway should Itake and how does that lead to
my career pathway.
And we've had, as I said, thegood fortune to have a lot of
partners.
We have a staff that goes intothe schools.
Last year we did over 2,000presentations in the school
(11:02):
system.
During the year, we holdconferences and trade and tech
days around the province forgirls and young women, for
indigenous youth, for otherunderrepresented groups to get
to.
We do some for parents, whichis great because that's a market
we do, and we want to do morewith guidance counselors and
other educators.
So there's a but there's, Ihave to say, there's more
receptivity to that message nowand when we go into the schools
(11:24):
there's a lot more interest.
And I want to say one otherthing that we're doing right now
is we know some schools andsome people didn't necessarily
have a what we used to call atech class in the school.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Right, right, so we Don't put those back in?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
They are, but they're expensive and it takes time.
So we developed a trade in techtruck, so it's a mobile unit
Nice, so we can take it to theschool so students can see what
it's like to drive a crane or abulldozer or a dump truck.
We have a welding simulator, wehave painting simulators, we
have auto stations, hydraulicstations, safety stations, 3d
printing.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
A little bit of everything.
A little bit of everything.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
A little bit of everything and that went really
well.
So we've built three more ofthese mobile units.
So there's great interest inthat and again that was done
through the partnership with theOntario government.
What we're trying to do isagain get that experiential, try
a trade opportunity youngpeople, so they can see what
they want.
Now some people might say, no,it's not what I want, which is
fine.
But what we're trying to doagain is open eyes so that
(12:18):
people have the full array ofopportunities open to them so
they can make that educationaldecision and that career
decision.
It's great when somebody wantsto change their careers later,
but if you get that informationto them sooner, perhaps they
could get on that track muchsooner, if that's what they want
to do.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It might have happened already.
Yeah, I feel in a lot of ways,covid was a bit of a reset for
that, because it really put thefocus on the fact that the
trades don't stop.
It's not.
Uh, trades aren't optional.
Right, trades are.
Trades are necessary.
There.
There's a lot of things thatbecame very optional during a
global crisis.
Right, like getting certainaspects of life just were not
(12:57):
important anymore.
But but plumbing, electricians,welders, water management these
things never stopped beingimportant.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And it was highlighted too, we had a
shortage of PPE during thepandemic, so we need to
manufacture that.
You need the workers to go intothe manufacturing facilities to
do that, but you need themillwrights, you need the
machine operators to keep allthat equipment going.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
You need the auto folks to keep the trucks going.
And then Power needs to come in.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Water needs to run, yeah, so I think that the
pandemic, negative though it was, it did highlight these are
important jobs and peoplerealize, hey, we need to have
that done.
We can't get by without havinga skilled workforce.
And it also highlight the factthat the demographics are we're
seeing more people going to beretiring than coming in right
now.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
It's already starting .
We have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So we want to make sure that young people are aware
of these opportunities,particularly those from the
underrepresented groups.
Our director of competition isa millwright.
She was a gold medal winner forSkills Ontario.
She was a silver medal winnerfor Skills Canada, skills
Competence Canada.
She worked for a big auto parkscompany in Ontario.
(14:01):
Then she worked for one of theschool boards doing
manufacturing and constructionfor them, and she was always a
volunteer with us.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
So we were able to recruit her.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when she told me when I started I was one of the
only two millwrights, I think,in her class who were women and
she said that 3% of millwrightswere female.
And she says good news is it'sdoubled percent of uh
millwrights were female.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And she says, uh, good news is it's doubled, but
the bad news is that's still sixpercent, so we still have still
terrible still have a long,long way to go.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So these again are excellent opportunities that
we're trying to highlight andmake sure people are aware of
that now, you mentioned a coupletimes about getting out across
ontario.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Now, ontario's big you got a lot of land and then
once you get north of Sudbury itgets real remote right Now.
How do you manage the logisticsof trying to coordinate so many
volunteers, so many people, somany like regional competitions
that have to happen, that worktowards this?
How do you do all that?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Through relationships , through partnerships and
through organization.
You're right, it is a hugelandmass and there's still more
we want to do.
One of our focuses is doingmore regional events.
I mean, we have our big eventin Toronto, but we also know
that not everybody can come toToronto, so how do we get out
there?
One of the things the pandemicmade us pretty proficient at was
(15:13):
offering virtual opportunities.
So we had our FNMI conferencein Toronto, but we also did a
virtual version of that forthose that couldn't get here.
We're also trying to make surewe have staff around the
province so we go and holdconferences in Thunder Bay, in
Dryden, in Kenora.
I was talking to someone fromTimmins yesterday.
They wanted us to come up toTimmins.
(15:34):
We did a very large FNMIIndigenous conference in Sault
Ste Marie a month or two ago.
We had 1,300 youth out inperson for that.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
We went to a regional in Sault.
Ste Marie two years ago and wewere amazed at the number of
people.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The interest is there and the demand is there, and
the industry is there.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
There's lots of mines and manufacturing plants in the
area.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And we have great partnership with many of those
companies.
In Sault Ste Marie we did around table with two of our new
partners there.
We have Algoma and Tenera Steel, and Sue College is a partner
there, so we were talking about,you know, what can we do to
better ensure young people havean awareness of the
opportunities and how they, oncethey're interested?
We also want to make sure howdo we help them along their
(16:16):
journey?
Yeah, so it's good.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Another piece of the puzzle, you know, in terms of
getting everyone together isgetting the school boards and
the guidance counselors on board.
That's been a struggle I'veheard in a lot of provinces.
We just like the CWB.
We just held a Halton guidancecounselor tour there.
We also see that as an issue.
But I think even further.
One step further and youmentioned it once was the
(16:38):
parents.
You know, how do we get theinformation in front of the
parents?
How do we start breaking downthose biases about these type of
opportunities?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And that's probably the hardest audience to get to,
because you can go to thestudents and the schools, the
educators the businesses.
So it's harder to get to theparents.
But again, during the pandemic,when people weren't necessarily
working, we did a lot of parentoutreach and engagement.
We sent kits to families, wedid family movie nights try to
tie it to a movie that raisedthe issue of skills and we'd
(17:09):
send them a kit to do.
And we worked with one of themovie chains and sent movie
codes so they could watch themovie and do that, trying to get
parents aware of the issues.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Was the welding from Star Wars in there?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
No, we weren't able to get that.
That's on our list, but wehaven't been able to do that yet
, but it's on our list.
So what we're trying to do iswe invite the parents to come to
our competition and to see it,and some do.
And I think we're seeing moreparents interested in this,
wanting to learn more andreceptive attitude towards this,
Whereas before it was oh no, Ithink it used to be.
I'm not interested in theskilled trades, and skilled
(17:43):
trades are great careers for myneighbor's kids For others, yeah
, and now it's hey, this issomething I think my son or
daughter might be really good ator interested in, so let's help
them do that.
And, as you say, it opens doors.
You can become an electrician,become a welder, you can become
a chef and slide into something,but do something else.
That's why we were reallypleased to host that
entrepreneurship one, becausesome of the people want to start
in this, but they want to starttheir own business and hire
(18:05):
others and help others and wehave, uh, one of our board
members.
Uh, she came uh from iraq as ateenager, didn't speak english,
and the teacher said, hey,there's a hairstyling
competition.
And she said, uh, who wants todo that?
She's put her her hand up.
So she went, introduced her tothat, she went through, became
an apprentice, became ahairstylist, has her own
(18:27):
hairstyling business now andemploys apprentices, and it just
changed her lives.
And that's what we like to say.
We say we promote skilledtrades and technology careers to
young people, but we changedour strategic plan to fashion a
little differently, say we'rechanging lives and inspiring
leaders through skilled tradesand technologies.
And that's what makes me reallypleased when you see what what
(18:47):
someone's done with their lifethrough the skilled trades,
through their exposure andengagement with Skills
Competence Canada or SkillsOntario or one of the other
member organizations across thecountry, it's just a great,
great feeling and a greatopportunity to continue to
promote.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I was looking at some memes on Instagram the other
day because I saw a little bitof brain rot and you know,
there's just been this messagethat's been rolling around with
Gen Alpha and Gen Z We'll neverbuy a house, we'll never be able
to own a car, we'll be in debtfrom birth to death.
There's just this kind ofmessaging that's going around
(19:21):
about how the youth won't beable to afford in the future.
And I mean I don't love thecost of living increases, I
don't love how expensive thingsare and how hard things are for
our youth.
I think that we did a poor jobof setting them up, really.
But on the other end of that,one of the memes I saw was these
kids.
There's a picture, a cartoon.
(19:41):
On the left, these kids arelike you know, they look like
youngsters and they're sayingyou know, my future is going to
be terrible, I can never buy ahouse.
And on the right there's a kidwearing a welding helmet and
said I'll be fine.
You know and I thought aboutthat, it's like these.
You know, we got 500competitors in this room.
I bet they're all fine, youknow what I mean and they will
(20:01):
be able to do the things theywant to do.
And yes, maybe it'll be moreexpensive and yes, maybe the
days of RSPs are gone and thatthe bubble of the eighties that
was kind of a maybe a fantasythat we lived in, but they'll be
fine, they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, and I think that's the message we want to
get out there that you'll befine, or you'll have a best
chance of being fine, if youhave a skilled education, if you
have a job that you can getinto, a career that you can find
and you enjoy that gives youthat security.
Many of them you know in theconstruction trade, some of the
manufacturers.
You have a pension.
(20:35):
You have a good income,benefits.
There's always going to bechallenges.
We'll have to deal with that.
But you're better placed todeal with those challenges if
you're a skilled worker.
That's right.
If you've got that,competencies that can be
marketable and can help you moveforward, no matter what's
happening, because there'salways going to be challenges.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
There's always going to be issues.
I've gone through three globalrecessions now in my career as a
welder.
I never lost my job.
You know, when I say that topeople, it's like it's not a
thing that happened in my world.
I mean, the plant still had torun regardless.
You know what I mean.
And I think that that's maybestarting to hit home more now.
(21:12):
Right, yeah, and especially asthe boomers are going out and
like I mean, my parents justretired and they felt like their
whole life was a lie.
You know, put your money intoRSPs, put your money into GICs,
invest, invest, invest everypenny, because you're going to
have this fantastic retirementand then they retire and
nothing's worth anything that itwas supposed to be worth.
And it's like, you know, thatwasn't the right message that we
(21:33):
were pushing.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
But I think the right message is always going to be
find a career that you can enjoyand find a career that's going
to be marketable and will helpyou move forward and give
security to yourself, to yourfamily, to your community and
help move things forward.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Keep the chain going.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And what's here, and the skill trades and technology
careers are broader than mostpeople think.
You walk around here and yousee things that people wouldn't
even think are skill trades 2Danimation.
3d animation some of the otherones that we do.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
We introduced this year cybersecurity as a new
competition, and that's huge.
That's the future right there.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So last year we did drywalling, which wasn't a new
career, but we hadn't had it,and I'm terrified.
I'm a terrible drywaller, so wewon't ask you to be a judge in
that one.
No, no, welding's my game andthe year before that we added
advanced and additivemanufacturing.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I love that, which is up and coming.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well, it's been up and coming for a while now, but
it's something that we want tomake sure that our competition
Well, and the colleges- have thecourses, so you want everything
to ladder into something, rightyeah?
And we want our programming toresonate with the students and
give them the information thatthey need and the experience and
the try-and-trade opportunitiesthat will help them make those
decisions.
Yeah, need and the experienceand the try trade opportunities
that will help them make thosedecisions yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Now let's talk about this event here in Regina.
You know how many did you bringin.
What was your team total?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We have about 69 competitors and our total team
is about 130 people and thatincludes the uh, the advisors,
the supporters, the coaches forfor the students, and we have
about five uh five staff here,including me uh to to support
the team and to help the team.
That's a pretty big team.
Yes, it is.
It's probably the largest one,but we're from the largest
province, I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
BC, I think, was right behind you at 60.
Yeah, they had a big team,bigger than normal, about 10
more than they normally bring,but it's great to see.
I mean, you look at the Nunavutwho has before in the past.
I remember a decade ago oneperson would come and now they
got 14.
So you're seeing this organicgrowth of skills.
But ontario is one of the ogskills, right, they're one of
(23:28):
the original group of skillsmembers.
Um, do you feel that there'sstill more room to grow like it
should like?
Are you hoping for bigger teams?
Are you hoping for more trades?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
uh, involvement, I I think there's still great
opportunities, uh, to grow ourprogramming and to keep it fresh
, as I say, so it resonates withthe audience, our audiences,
because we want parents, we wantthem to see it.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
We want to work with the educators.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
So we're always like what should we add?
Ai is a big thing that's goingto have a huge impact on
everything, so what do we needto do about that?
So we have to work with theschool boards as to what are the
competitions you think we needto do.
We try and tie everything we doto the curriculum for the
students to make it as it allladders together.
So it all ladders together asyou say.
So I think there's lots ofopportunity.
We're making efforts and makingsure that we are as inclusive
(24:15):
as we can be.
I have to proudly say that ourorganization won a diversity
award last night in Toronto.
Wonderful, so we're reallypleased with that programming
that we're offering, becausethere's underrepresented groups,
so let's build a pool ofpotential workers and we need
them.
We do so.
Let's make it easier for peopleto get the information they
need, to get the assistance thatwe need and what we want to do.
(24:37):
And you look around at how manyvolunteers are here and across
the country and people are onlytoo happy to help, to share
their experience, to share howthey were successful, to share
how they got over the challengesthey were dealing with.
We try and connect mentors andbring mentors in so people can
see hey, that person did it, Ican do it.
And talk to people.
Reach out, start with SkillsOntario, start with our website,
but make some connections.
(24:57):
Reach out.
People are only too happy tohelp and they say what if you
talk to someone who's not happy?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Well, then, helpful, well move on to the next person,
so that's good you found outthat person wasn't somebody you
can help.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
but most people are only too happy to try and help
young people find themselves,find their career and move
forward.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Now, every province has their local industry, things
that they do best within theirprovince.
You know obvious ones likeAlberta oil and gas,
saskatchewan ag.
You know BC and their maritimeshipbuilding.
Now, what would you say wouldbe Ontario's strong points in
terms of their industry and howit relates to skills?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Well, ontario is known for a big manufacturing.
It's the manufacturing clusterfor the country.
It's across the country as well, a national organization I know
it was in every province andterritory but Ontario has the
largest, densest manufacturingpopulation.
Construction is huge as well.
Infrastructure is huge there.
The service sector, you know wehave a huge demand for the
(25:56):
service sector and it's growing.
Technology is a huge area aswell, and even manufacturing is
so large it's broken down.
You have the auto sector,motive power, you have the other
manufacturing aspects of it.
So that's what we're known for.
We have mining, though, in thenorth and there's a new focus on
the ring of fire.
How do we mine that and how dowe process that and how do we
(26:17):
deal with the upcoming economyand those upcoming opportunities
that we have?
So we, as I said, we have 77contests and we try and add one
or two each year to giveeverybody a sense as to what a
skilled trade career could be,what a technology career could
be.
So it's something that's ajourney for us to make sure that
our programming is fresh andgets the message out, provides
(26:40):
the assistance route for peopleto follow if they're interested
in that.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, and now I'm back to the competition here
with 69 competitors 60.
Oh sorry, 60 competitors and130 in total.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
you said yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Now, with that many people here, how do you keep
them all pumped?
Some of them have maybe neverleft the province, Some maybe
have never flown.
You know you've got a wholedifferent variety of people at
different levels.
There's anxiety, there'snervousness, there's.
How do you pull that alltogether and how do you keep
everyone focused?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Well, the staff we have are really great at
supporting, encouraging andproviding assistance to them.
We have the 60 other people onour team that are there to coach
and provide that assistance.
We want to make sure thatpeople are aware of what they
should expect.
Our competitions team has beengreat on that.
If you've gone through ourcompetition, it's similar to
(27:35):
this one, so you're prepared forit.
But you're right, it's alife-changing opportunity and
experience for many people.
I talked to one person I thinkit was in Vancouver.
I said this is your first timein Vancouver and he said this is
my first time on an airplane.
And the person went on to win agold medal and moved on to, I
think, world skills, and it isgreat.
So what we want to do is makesure people feel comfortable and
(27:57):
they have the support necessaryto do as well as they can do.
If you've made it to SkillsCompetence Canada competition,
you're already a winner.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You've already excelled in the territory and
you put your neck out there,which is very hard to do.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
But it is nerve-wracking.
It is as you say.
It's the first time someone'sbeen away from home, perhaps but
they have a team here, theyhave a support system here, and
that's what I like about theSkills Competence Canada
competition.
It's Team Ontario, it's TeamManitoba, it's Team Saskatchewan
, team Nunavut, and they'resupporting each other, they're
helping each other.
I love seeing thoserelationships build and some
(28:31):
will be lifelong relationshipsthat you have.
You meet here for alife-changing experience and you
meet people that will connectwith you.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
You'll be on your cell phone for the rest of your
life.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So we try and do all we can do to help support our
team when we're here, and someof them are just living on
excitement and energy right nowas well, so it's great.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Now, what about the first thoughts of Regina?
I don't know if you've everbeen to Regina, I've been here
before, but I'm sure most of thepeople that you've brought
haven't been.
What are your first thoughts ofour city?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Well, it's a wonderful city.
I've been really impressed withit.
The people have been great,friendly, helpful.
But what?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I was most impressed with was the facilities you have
here.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I'm from Hamilton and I said we don't have facilities
like this in Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
This is the largest interconnected conference center
in North America.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
I learned that yeah, and I was.
When I was told that thecompetition was going to be here
on China, I said do they have afacility big enough?
They have the largest in thecountry.
I didn't know, North America,the largest in the country.
So it's an amazing facility, soit's been a very positive
experience.
I've been to Saskatchewan a fewtimes in my former career in
national organizations, so, butit's great to get them to come
(29:43):
back and be here for a while and, uh, I hadn't been at this
center before, so it's nice tosee and experience that.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, and how have you liked the?
Speaker 2 (29:51):
center.
So far it's been great.
It's uh, it's enormous.
Uh, there's lots of parking wewe noted that as well.
The parking is great for theconference center, for the
stadium, for the arena.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
It's a it's an amazing facility yeah, so now,
coming towards the end of theinterview, a couple questions
just to wrap it up.
You know, as a spectator nowput on your spectator lens,
you're walking through.
You've been through, I'm sure,all the buildings and checked it
all out.
What are your top three thatyou like to sit and watch?
Which three trades orcompetitions?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
do you like to watch?
Well, that's an unfair question, because I like them all and I
don't want to show favoritism,but no, I think the ones that I
really like to watch are some ofthe culinary ones, because you
watch something being createdand everybody loves food
particularly me.
So that's one I like to watch.
That's one of our most popularones, and hairstyling is always
(30:48):
good to watch too, because againyou see something being
creative and you know, roboticsis always interesting to watch.
that's up and coming, but you'rejust walking around the
bricklaying and the landscapearchitecture they're all just
fantastic to watch.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Landscaping, baking and cooking and hairstyling have
been like the top three.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Okay, I'm close, then that's good, that's good, but
they're all fascinating.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
But only one person picked welding, which, oh, come
on.
Because you're behind thescreens.
That's right.
That's right.
Okay, and for the last questionfor yourself, knowing what you
know through your extensivecareer trades adjacent and now
working with the trades, withskills going back in time, you
know, to being a young Ian andstarting over, but you know
(31:33):
everything about the trades.
Which one do you pick to startyour life over with?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The one I would enjoy .
Well, most would be probably inthe culinary arts, and we have
an app that we designed Peoplecould do an assessment of
themselves, and it recommendedtwo courses for me.
One was working with youth andthe other was culinary.
Okay, and I enjoy that, but Idon't think I would like the
high-paced restaurant life.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Private chef.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
I need that, or just I use cooking to relax and enjoy
a nice meal, but I found outthere's so many career
opportunities and optionsavailable, but those are the
ones that I probably would enjoythe most.
I'm creating something and I dolove food.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So it fits my hobby Well.
I hope you get out to lots ofrestaurants in Regina.
We're famous for ourrestaurants.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, I was impressed with that too.
I had a nice meal at a Japaneserestaurant last night.
Oh which one did you go to?
I can't remember the name, butit's across from the Doubletree.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Across.
Oh Juan, yeah, the food wasgreat.
Best ramen in town yeah, it wasgreat, it was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I actually had the udon, but it was close, it was
great.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Thank you, max.
I really appreciate you beingon the show today.
Thank you, it was great, reallyappreciate it.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
And for all the people that have been following
along with the episodes here,there's 13 total ED episodes
here for Skills, so if you'vestumbled into this one, make
sure you catch them all.
They're all fantastic.
Learn Canada and all the greatwork that they're doing.
(33:05):
We'll catch you at the nextepisode, so take care.
We hope you enjoy the show.
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