APMA to lead auto manufacturing workers project

The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) will lead training and paid job placements in the automotive manufacturing sector for up to 800 people from underrepresented groups.

The Ontario government is investing $7 million towards this project.

“Our automotive sector has openings across the province for talented, trained and eager workers,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister, Labour, Training and Skills Development,. “This program will help ensure people who face multiple barriers get access to free training and get on track to promising careers in assembly line work, machine operation or quality assurance, to name a few. This will energize our economy, workforce and, just as importantly, create great, local jobs that make our communities stronger. We will once again make Ontario’s automative sector one of the most competitive in the world.”

APMA will work with community agencies and employment service providers to place up to 100 trainees per month with hundreds of auto parts manufacturers across Ontario, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses, and APMA members.

Trainees will participate in paid job placement sessions that last a minimum of three months. Participating employers will receive up to $8,000 in supports per trainee, of which a maximum of $3,000 can be used as a wage subsidy and $5,000 to cover costs related to training.

The job placements and training happen concurrently, starting between June 2021 and March 2022. Training will cover manufacturing essentials, such as problem solving, document use, basic math, project management, as well as oral communication, critical thinking and inter-personal skills.

“Ours is an industry with an incredible future that is critically short of people to share in it,” said Flavio Volpe, President, APMA. “Partnerships like these allow us to build permanent pathways into new communities who would otherwise not have accessed this prosperity.”