Ontario gives $1.5M for Newmarket construction training

Ontario is spending more than $1.5 million to train 140 workers and jobseekers in Newmarket for skilled construction jobs, the province announced Tuesday.

The money comes from the sixth round of the Skills Development Fund Training Stream. The program, run by Newmarket-based Bird Infrastructure, combines classroom teaching with hands-on work in mechanical craftsmanship, rigging and hoisting, and leadership and mentorship. It is meant to prepare people for trades such as plumbing, welding, steamfitting, pipefitting, sheet metal work and heating and air conditioning.

Anyone who wants to take part has to contact Bird Infrastructure directly, the province said. It did not say when the training starts or how participants will be chosen.

“Ontario’s construction workers deserve every opportunity to succeed in their careers and return home safely to their families,” Labour Minister Trevor Jones said in a statement.

Round 6 is the first set of projects picked since the Auditor General reviewed the fund in 2025. The government says it now tracks whether participants are employed three, six and 12 months after training, requires applicants to disclose any registered lobbyists or consultants and checks them against Ontario’s lobbyist registry, and screens projects and the people behind applications more closely.

The province says the first five rounds supported more than 1,000 training projects aimed at more than 700,000 workers, and that more than 120,000 participants found work within 60 days of finishing. In Round 5 alone, it says more than 18,000 people found jobs and more than 72,000 upgraded their skills. Across all six rounds, Ontario has put more than $660 million into 479 projects that target construction.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

File photo: Main Street in Newmarket, Ont., in 2024. Photo by Milan Suvajac, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.