Ontario makes $5.4-million investment in CTMA’s Career-Ready program

Ontario Premier Doug Ford (right) making the announcement at XL Tool Inc. Photo Credit: Canadian Tooling & Machining Association

A program from the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA) that’s designed to help train workers across Ontario has received $5.4 million through the provincial government’s Skills Development Fund (SDF).

The “Career-Ready with CTMA: Expanding Opportunities” program has the goal of tackling the province’s labour shortage and connecting Ontario workers with high-paying jobs in their communities, and the new funding will enable the CTMA to create 300 more experiential work placements and provide new machinery and tools to an additional 30 high schools throughout the province.

In a July 2024 news release, CTMA officials said that, by the end of March 2025, the Career-Ready with CTMA program will have provided new machinery and tools to more than 130 high schools, ranging from CNC milling centres, lathes, and plasma cutters, to CNC desktop milling machines, high precision conventional milling machines, lathes with readouts, and more.

This has resulted in more than 15,000 students being exposed to and benefitting from the new machinery. Of those 15,000 students, more than 3,500 have begun industry-related co-ops or apprenticeships; and these numbers will continue to increase.

“On behalf of the CTMA, I would like to thank the Ontario Government for supporting this important initiative,” said Robert Cattle, CTMA’s executive director. “Through the Career-Ready with CTMA: Expanding Opportunities program, we have been able to offer experiential work placements for job seekers and facilitate the delivery of new machinery to high schools across Ontario. These efforts are pivotal in fostering the growth and sustainability of our industry while enhancing educational opportunities for students.”

The announcement was made at CTMA member company, XL Tool Inc., in Kitchener, Ont., where the government also announced it is investing up to an additional $260 million and will open the fifth round of SDF Training Stream funding on July 29, 2024, to address challenges for recruiting, training and upskilling workers for in-demand sectors such as manufacturing, construction and technology.

“Our government’s record investments in the Skills Development Fund are helping connect workers here in Kitchener and across the province to better jobs and bigger pay cheques,” said Premier Doug Ford. “By continuing to work for workers and make these important investments, we are also tackling Ontario’s labour shortage and bringing back good-paying jobs in manufacturing and the skilled trades.”

This will be the largest round of funding since the SDF Training Stream was launched in 2021 and brings Ontario’s total investment through the Fund up to $1.4 billion.

More information about Career-Ready with CTMA is available at www.ctma.com.