Looking for a skilled-trades co-op? This Tilbury grad found it at their local dealership

Students in Tilbury were in action on Thursday, helping to fill the shortage of trade workers in the auto sector. CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru checks in.

A Tilbury high school graduate is already working full-time as an apprentice automotive technician, thanks to a skilled-trades co-op program that took him out of the classroom and directly into a local dealership.

18-year-old Tom Tate, who graduated from Tilbury District High School earlier this year, now works at Lally Ford, the same dealership where he completed his high school co-op through Ford of Canada’s Automotive Career Exploration (ACE) program.

“I got hired here as an apprentice so I can finish that and become a master technician,” Tate said.

The ACE program, launched nationally in 2018, partners Ford dealerships with high schools and colleges.

It gives students hands-on experience, paid work opportunities, and access to real vehicle components, such as engines and transmissions which are donated for classroom training.

At Lally Ford, students begin with basic tasks such as oil changes and tire swaps, but they train side-by-side with senior technicians.

“They’re working beside technicians who’ve been here 25 years,” said Adam Lally, president of Lally Ford and the Lally Auto Group.

“It’s a great way to learn. With more of our senior techs retiring soon, there’s a huge opportunity for young people.”

Lally’s dealership has also played a major role in keeping local schools up to date with modern automotive technology.

After working with Ford’s national team, the dealership helped secure more than 100 engines for schools in Chatham-Kent — replacing outdated teaching equipment and exposing students to current automotive systems.

“Before that, they were working on engines from 2002 vehicles,” said Lally, adding engines have adapted to adjust for electric-vehicle capabilities and driver-assist technologies.

It’s that shift toward hybrid and electric vehicles has significantly changed what students need to learn, according to officials with Ford of Canada.

Shannon White, Ford of Canada’s national service operations manager, said the trade has become increasingly tech driven.

“In the past, people think about wrenches or traditional mechanics, but now it’s really evolving to be more like a STEM career,” White said, adding parents still carry stigma about the skilled trades being a “messy” and “dirty” field.

“There’s a lot of modular programming. It’s very different — a lot of computer work now.”

The ACE program now works with roughly 80 schools across the country, helping address the growing shortage of skilled trade workers.

Provincial data shows one in three workers in Ontario with a trade certificate is 55 or older, signalling a coming wave of retirements.

For Tate, students who are unsure about post-secondary plans should consider trying a skilled-trades placement firsthand.

“Just go for it,” he said.