The FOCAL initiative has long championed work in the trades and is dedicated to helping job-seekers find the right position, apprenticeship or other training opportunity for their interests and skills.

As our focus is the Canadian auto sector, many of these opportunities are in manufacturing or labour roles. That said, there are also opportunities for college and university graduates with specialized or professional skill sets, whether that involves tech-based roles in an increasingly digital landscape or positions in administration or human resources. 

The bottom line is this: if you’re eager, hardworking and have the right attitude, the FOCAL team can help match you with opportunities that can lead to a satisfying, long-term career. Here’s how.

The vital role of CSTEC

Tradespeople come from many different experiences, educational backgrounds and walks of life. While some may have actively pursued a college or university education that leads directly to a role, others are looking for on-the-job training or apprenticeship opportunities. The Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC) is in the business of actively helping graduates find great jobs in manufacturing—a career category that many liberal arts graduates neglect to consider. 

As CSTEC states on their website:

“Our strong relationship with manufacturing firms and Ontario’s educational institutions and other workforce development agencies is our strength. Whether it is co-op placements, training partnerships or sponsoring apprentices; CSTEC has an enviable track record of supporting youth (defined as the 15-24-year-old demographic segment) to enter manufacturing while helping manufacturers find future talent.” 

High touch, hands-on support

The team at CSTEC delivers a uniquely high touch approach to the challenge of helping manufacturers find eligible talent. It’s a hands-on process, involving plenty of direct personal contact between CSTEC representatives and the manufacturers they serve in order to find out exactly what their recruitment opportunities are and how best to fill them.

CSTEC representatives also encourage job seekers to contact them personally to explore any and all relevant recruitment opportunities those manufacturers offer. This is the opposite of a computer-assisted process driven by an anonymous algorithm. It’s the real thing.

As one CSTEC coordinator stated, “Think about us as a dating service. Manufacturers are looking for a life partner, not a one-night stand. Our job is to supply the right fit for the right person at the right time.”

It’s CSTEC’s high touch, hands on approach that helps make that happen. As the coordinator notes, “We actually drive to manufacturing sites, talk to HR, and in turn find solutions to their labour force challenges whether it is training, recruitment of workers, guiding them through the thorny thickets of registering an industrial apprenticeship. Over the past five years we have helped over 250 Ontario manufacturers recruit and register 1,000 apprentices.”

CSTEC knows that employee retention is key, as is knowing manufacturing operations and occupations business. All of CSTEC’s ground staff have worked in some capacity in manufacturing.  As a result, they recognise that though specific (and teachable) skill sets in job seekers are important, what matters most are attitude, aptitude and disposition.

Compensation and career prospects

These three characteristics apply equally to any job seeker CSTEC helps, whatever their background. True, universities focus on academic and professional programs while colleges focus more on career training and trades, but what ultimately counts is the ambition to succeed and the recognition that the skilled trades offer satisfying, challenging work as well as competitive compensation and benefits and opportunities for long-term career growth.

Filling a need in Canada’s workforce

CSTEC is a key part of the Future of Canadian Automotive Labourforce (FOCAL) initiative along with the Automotive Policy Research Centre (APRC) and Prism Economics and Analysis. These reputable and effective organizations may offer job seekers a step into one of the most dynamic growth areas in Canadian manufacturing—the automotive industry.  

The Canadian labour force is aging, and thousands of employees in the Canadian automotive industry will soon retire. The loss of accumulated skills and knowledge associated with these retirements is precipitating an employment deficit. In turn, this creates an exciting range of opportunities in the automotive industry for ambitious, forward-thinking university graduates.

To take just two broad examples, FOCAL’s occupational forecasts for automotive manufacturing for the period 2021-2030 indicate as follows:

• In Ontario the sector’s projected recruitment gap is 30,000 employees, almost a fifth of the province’s current automotive manufacturing workforce.
• In Quebec the recruitment gap for the same period is just under 5,000 employees, or about a third of the current provincial sectoral workforce.

Opportunities in Canada’s automotive industry are many and varied. An excellent place to find out more is CSTEC, starting with this definition:

“Our manufacturing consortiums are composed of employers, colleges, government training consultants, and union representatives looking to solve workforce development issues, including apprenticeships.

Our consortia have been remarkably successful in helping manufacturers and communities increase the supply of skilled tradespersons and other technical occupations. To date, our regional consortia have helped local manufacturers find over 1,900 apprentices and other skilled workers.

Our consortiums operate in Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie, Kitchener-Waterloo, Peel Region and The Greater Toronto Area.”

The FOCAL Initiative is a collaboration of the Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC), the Automotive Policy Research Centre (APRC) and Prism Economics and Analysis. Funded by the Government of Canada, you can find out more about us on our website and follow us on social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – and through our newsletter.