This past Friday, I had the honour of having Premier Ford and the finance minister out to my riding. One of the stops was the skills development centre at Durham College. Both speakers spoke about the importance of skills development in our province. Could the member from Oakville speak a little bit more broadly about how the legislation proposes to address the labour shortage in the province of Ontario, particularly as it relates to the skilled trades?

Thank you to the member from Whitby—a very good question.

We understand that in the province of Ontario there’s an enormous skills gap. We are missing economic growth that we potentially could have if we had a match of skills to jobs. There is an enormous shortage of skilled workers here in Ontario, and the Skills Development Fund specifically supports innovative training projects that upskill workers and job seekers, including apprentices, preparing them for meaningful careers.

The first two rounds of funding delivered 388 training projects, helping more than 393,000 workers in the next step of their career for in-demand industries. So by bridging the gap, by encouraging young people, supporting workers, transitioning workers from perhaps sectors that they no longer feel comfortable in or would like to adapt to, we are encouraging that skills mismatch to be reduced.