Students from across Windsor-Essex got a chance to explore potential careers in the skilled trades during a two-day career fair aimed at introducing young people to opportunities in the industry. The Level Up skilled trades career fair brought students, educators, and industry representatives from across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent together Wednesday and Thursday, with hands-on activities and demonstrations across approximately 40 booths. Candice White, CEO and registrar of Skilled Trades Ontario, said organizers expected about 1,500 youth to attend Thursday, following approximately 1,000 students and more than 300 parents who took part in Wednesday’s activities, including an evening open house. White said the fair offered opportunities to learn about different trades and try them firsthand, from masonry and carpentry to pipe trades and electrical work. There were also simulators for operating equipment such as cranes. “We’re planting seeds with the youth to potentially consider a skilled trade as a career,” White stated. “And it’s a fabulous career. It’s amazing. It’s for life.” According to some students, the experience offered a chance to discover careers they had not previously considered. Grade 8 student Evan Hudacek said he particularly enjoyed trying concrete work, bricklaying, and metalwork. “Well, it’s pretty fun. I really like the concrete and stuff. The bricklaying. That’s pretty fun. The metalwork. That’s also pretty fun,” he said. Hudacek also sees skilled trades as an important career option as artificial intelligence continues to change the workplace. “Especially with the rise of AI and everything, it’s really good to get a skilled trade because we’re gonna need these people,” he said. Rayan Hassan, a student at École secondaire catholique de Lamothe-Cadillac, said the fair helped him learn about different career paths and gave him a chance to practise skills, including changing a tire. “I learned a lot from the nails with the hammer, and I learned how to change a tire also because I want to be a mechanic when I’m older,” Hassan said. The event also offered an opportunity for young people to connect with those already working in the industry. Taylor Harrison, who has worked in masonry for nearly five years with Contact Masonry, said it was rewarding to see students eager to try the trade. “I see a lot of them with natural skill and eager to pick up something that is kind of rough,” Harrison said. She explained that seeing young people show an interest in the work is especially meaningful because of her own passion for the trade. Cory McAiney, Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program coordinator with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board’s Construction Academy, told CTV News that the event is already producing results. More than 20 high school volunteers at this year’s fair are registered apprentices, who first attended the event in Grade 8 or Grade 9. “And now they went into the trades. The registered apprentices are graduating this year, so it’s nice for them to get back,” McAiney said. “But it shows you the results. The impact, something like Level Up has on these young people.” McAiney said the industry has made significant progress in recruiting and training apprentices, but more workers are needed as experienced tradespeople approach retirement. “We’re doing great things, but we have to continue to improve and increase that number,” he said. He said a large number of tradespeople are expected to reach retirement age over the next three to four years, greatly outweighing the number of new apprentices entering the industry. While electrical work remains a popular and important trade, McAiney said there is also growing demand for plumbers, masons, welders and millwrights. He described millwrights as a particularly high-demand occupation in Windsor, with the trade combining several different skill sets. The Level Up career fair series is marking its fifth anniversary this year. White said the series reached a milestone in LaSalle Wednesday, welcoming its 150,000th student through the doors since the program began. She said organizers are now beginning to see students who attended the earliest fairs reach Grades 11 and 12, when they can pursue opportunities through co-op placements, pre-apprenticeship programs and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. White said the province is also seeing increased interest in certification, with approximately 30,000 skilled trades certification exams expected to be administered this year. The goal, she said, is to give young people an opportunity to experience the work firsthand and consider whether a skilled trade could be the right career path. “How do they know? How do they know unless they try it?” White said.
