Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development recently announced that they are considering an initiative to address the shortage of training opportunities in the skilled trades. The proposal, if implemented, would incentivize contractors working on provincially-funded infrastructure projects to hire apprentices.
As part of a broader strategy to address the need for skilled trades, the Ministry is examining ways to increase apprenticeship hiring on publicly funded infrastructure projects. With many journeypersons nearing retirement and demand rising, strengthening the talent pipeline is critical. Ensuring apprenticeship is better integrated into procurement processes will offer a strategic path to ensure a sustainable supply of skilled workers essential for delivering major infrastructure investments in transit, housing, healthcare, and other public assets.
from the Consultation Paper, “Apprentices on Government Funded Infrastructure Projects,” Dec. 2025
NCBN responded to the request for public input on this proposal, expressing our support. We are encouraged to see this embrace of the concepts of community employment benefits on the part of the provincial government.
Submission to the Regulatory Consultation for Apprentices on Government Funded Infrastructure Projects
Introduction
Niagara Community Benefits Network aims to ensure that development dollars spent in Niagara truly benefit our communities, reflecting the priorities and addressing the most acute needs of our region. We support the goal of increasing meaningful, stable employment opportunities through apprenticeship on public infrastructure projects. In our view, a government initiative to achieve this end would benefit Niagara and the province as a whole. We believe that both proposed approaches could work well.
Benefits
This initiative would help create career pathways for people entering the trades in Niagara. Construction jobs make up about 9% of employment in the region, and Niagara has seen a modest increase in new applicants and active apprentices in the years of recovery following the pandemic. However, more will be needed to meet the demands of the sector in the coming years.
Risks
Similar social procurement and community employment benefit models have been used successfully throughout North America, and we are not aware of any evidence that they result in delays or excess costs.
Barriers
The construction sector in Niagara is dominated by small and micro businesses which may face challenges in hiring apprentices. Where the addition of a single extra worker would represent a 50% increase in the employer’s workforce, for example, this may not be an easy decision. On the other hand, a small employer could offer valuable opportunities for close mentorship and hands-on learning for apprentices. The proposed models would help to make hiring apprentices a more viable option for small contractors.
Existing Models
In the Community Employment Benefits model, agreements are negotiated on a per-project basis, setting out targets for employment of e.g. local labour. Apprenticeship targets have been successfully included in such agreements. For example, the Gordie Howe International Bridge Community Benefits Agreement included a stipulation that subcontractors hire pre-apprentices and apprentices and report on their progress.
A social procurement model achieves the same ends through a policy remaining in place over the course of many projects. This allows for competitive bidding but gives weight to social value embedded in the bid, in this case the commitment to allocate a certain number of work hours to apprentices. Social procurement policies are in place in several Canadian cities and currently being developed by the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
We see these two models as corresponding roughly to the two approaches outlined in the Consultation Paper, and we believe either could work well.
Potential Projects
The government of Ontario is preparing to make major investments in our region in the projects of the Destination Niagara initiative. These projects offer several opportunities for implementing new apprenticeship requirements.
The QEW Garden City Skyway Bridge Twinning is a large-scale infrastructure project which promises to employ many in the construction sector. As St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe has emphasized, the Skyway Twinning carries the potential for “real, immediate benefits for local workers and contractors, creating good-paying jobs and supporting families throughout our community.” Incentives to hire apprentices on this project could benefit students in trades programs at local Niagara College and elsewhere.
Other examples of projects that could incorporate apprentice labour in Niagara include work on the proposed improvements to GO service in the region and the construction of irrigation systems being funded through the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program. Work beyond the infrastructure sphere could benefit as well, such as the building of new casinos in Niagara Falls and the improvements to the Royal George Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Conclusion
Niagara Community Benefits Network supports the government’s proposal for increasing apprentice participation in provincially funded infrastructure projects. We recommend setting a target to have 10–15% of total trade labour hours on these projects performed by registered apprentices. We look forward to seeing this policy implemented with some of the projects coming to our region as part of Destination Niagara.