Close to 5,000 attendees expected to “try a trade”

Attendees will “learn to rock” with brick and stone masons, “move the earth” with operating engineers, “hammer it home” with carpenters and take a “virtual walk” on skyscraper scaffolding.

This April 19-21, London, ON, will host up to 5,000 students and young adults from across the province for Future Building 2016. The annual career and apprenticeship exhibition gives attendees hands-on access to activities in all areas of the construction sector. The career fair, which moves to a new city each year and is open to the public. It is organized by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS) with support from Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges, Training and Universities (Employment Ontario).

Future Building invites participants to interact one-on-one with professionals from associations and high-tech construction trades, to learn about changing academic and technical demands, and to gain exposure to career and apprenticeship training opportunities. Attendees will “learn to rock” with brick and stone masons; “move the earth” with operating engineers; “hammer it home” with carpenters; and take a “virtual walk” on skyscraper scaffolding. Apprentices from across Ontario will also participate in an Apprenticeship Skills Competition.

“Skilled tradespeople are, and will continue to be, in high demand across Ontario,” said Sean Strickland, chief executive officer of the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS). “Ontario’s economic future depends on a strong workforce with the technical skills needed to build tomorrow’s vital infrastructure projects. This is especially important as modern construction projects become more technical and complex.”

According to the 2016 Construction Confidence Indicator, an annual province-wide survey of construction firms developed by Ipsos Reid and the OCS, London is reporting more confidence in regional construction growth throughout 2016 than any other city in Ontario. But firms in the region also predict they will face the largest labour shortages, with 80 per cent of local contractors expecting to be “somewhat or extremely affected” by a skilled labour shortage.

Students and teachers representing 19 school boards from across Ontario will be attending Future Building 2016 at the Western Fair District – Metroland Media Agriplex. There will also be an evening session on Wednesday, April 20 for young adults and professionals considering a career change.

Backgrounder
Future Building is a three-day hands-on construction career exhibition that helps young people, teachers, educators and the public better understand opportunities in Ontario’s industrial, commercial and institutional construction industry. The exhibition is a joint initiative, co-sponsored by Employment Ontario and the Ontario Construction Secretariat. Direct in-kind involvement from the building trade unions and management representatives who work in Ontario’s unionized construction industry is a key part of the exhibition.
OCS was formed in 1993 as a joint labour/management organization representing 25 unionized construction trades and their contractor partners in Ontario’s industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) construction sector. Its mandate is to enhance Ontario’s ICI construction industry by developing relationships, facilitating dialogue, providing value-added research, disseminating important information to client groups and promoting the value of ICI unionized construction across Ontario and beyond.