Skilled trades a vanishing breed

By PJ WILSON, The Nugget

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:50:50 EDT PM

A great mystery surrounds education in the province, says the president of the Ontario Real Estate Association.

Young people are not being trained in the skilled trades.

“There are not very many (young people) getting the skills they need to go out and get a job with,” says Ron Abraham.

“I don’t understand why the provincial government is not doing more” to push the skilled trades, Abraham said Tuesday in an interview in North Bay.

He noted apprenticeships in particular are a long process. Many, such as welders, plumbers and electricians are few and far between, particularly in Northern Ontario.

“We are not encouraging young people to do those things. They all want to be computer experts, but you can only have so many of them.”

Skilled trades, he notes, are also well-paying jobs.

“There is big money in there,” Abraham said. “It’s not unusual to be able to take someone off the street, and if they work hard they can make $100,000 a year in the construction or mining industries.”

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