Ontario Premier Doug Ford was clear in his statement that the province is “desperately in need of more electricians, welders, carpenters and construction workers,” during a recent announcement of $37 million that is geared towards helping thousands of people upgrade their skills or retrain for a new career during the COVID-19 recovery.
To help facilitate this influx of workers are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Ontario’s Building Trades Unions and colleges and universities who are all slated to benefit from the funding.
“These kinds of investments in people and talent are absolutely critical as we work together to get our economy firing on all four cylinders once again,” said Ford in a press conference at the IBEW Local 105 Training Centre in Hamilton Sept. 3.
It’s a move that’s being met with praise among the training providers.
“The IBEW CCO is very proud of our female apprentices and journeypersons who provided training demonstrations to Premier Ford and Minister McNaughton during their visit,” said James Barry, executive secretary treasurer of the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario, in an email to the Daily Commercial News. “Our union is committed to diversification and encouraging more women to join the trade and we are pleased that the government has announced it will fund programs to support that.
“We appreciate that the Ontario government has announced investments in training, reinforcing the importance that only highly trained and certified professionals should be undertaking dangerous work such as electrical work,” he added.
Ford, Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training and skills development, and other MPPs toured the facility and met with members.
The funding will provide skills training to over 15,000 people. It will support 86 projects and provide training, internships and other hands-on learning experiences for high-demand skills like construction, information technology, advanced manufacturing, truck driving and horticulture. It will support universities, colleges, training providers and community and business organizations with costs related to planning, organizing and implementing projects.
In construction, the government is investing $450,000 to support women in the trades and for health and safety training through the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the past six months on the protocols and safety for COVID,” explained Patrick Dillon, business manager for the Building Trades Council.
“The more we get into this stuff, the more mental health challenges are being highlighted.
“There is a lot of work ongoing with mental health programs. Funding will be directed towards those programs and initiatives.”
A big concern in the industry right now is the attitude of some who want to move back to the pre-COVID workplace practices, Dillon explained.
“When we got into COVID and really started digging into the hygiene and health and safety practices on construction projects in Ontario, it was embarrassing how bad it actually was,” he said. “There has been a lot of co-operation with the government and the contractors associations and the building trades to collectively work at cleaning that up. They’ve done a reasonably good job, but some contractors think that we should start relaxing the protocols moving back to pre-COVID. It’s just not going to happen. We’ve got some educational work to do around that.”
LIUNA International vice-president Joe Mancinelli said many of the training trust funds within LIUNA will be applying for the funding.
“All of these training trusts will be making applications through the provincial government in order to get some of that funding,” he said.
“This announcement touches upon some of the very things that LIUNA has been at the forefront of — training women and health and safety. I was glad to see it because it shows the premier and also the minister of labour are in tune with what the construction industry needs right now, that is to get some additional funding into our training centres for the very things we need the most.”
LIUNA runs a number of courses at its training centres for women in construction, including one offered through a partnership with Aecon.
Through the Women Inclusion in the Trades Network, LIUNA runs an eight-week Construction Craft Worker Program with 12 women to obtain hands on career building skills at a training centre in Vaughan, Ont.
“We cannot continue to talk about infrastructure stimulus as an economic recovery and development strategy without recognizing the work that must continue to be done across the industry to encourage more women in the trades to account for women’s job losses throughout the pandemic,” indicates a statement issued by LIUNA’s women’s committee following the announcement.
“The announcement by Premier Ford and Minister McNaughton is a critical step to continue building a stronger, inclusive workforce across Ontario that are the economic engine of our economy. Investing in training and retraining women in the skilled trades will ensure that women are able to participate in and equally benefit from infrastructure stimulus.”
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
