{"id":906557,"date":"2026-09-23T12:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906557\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T12:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:06:26","slug":"workforce-challenges-persist-for-ontarios-manufacturing-sector-industry-group-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906557\/","title":{"rendered":"Workforce challenges persist for Ontario\u2019s manufacturing sector: industry group \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from the industry association representing Canadian manufacturers says workforce challenges persist in the country\u2019s largest province, even as job vacancies are on the decline.<\/p>\n

The findings published by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say Ontario manufacturers are facing shortages in key skilled trades as apprenticeship pathways aren\u2019t keeping pace with modern manufacturing.<\/p>\n

The report, which reflects roundtable discussions the association held with manufacturers and educators across the province, pointed to a \u201cweak alignment\u201d between education and industry needs. It said that small and medium-sized manufacturers have limited capacity to absorb these challenges.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA worker operates a forklift in front of steel coils at the manufacturing plant of Ideal Roofing in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin Tang<\/p>\n

\u201cManufacturers are still struggling to find people that they need with the kind of skills they need,\u201d said the group\u2019s president and CEO Dennis Darby.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really means that we\u2019ve got to do better to match the demand with how we train and educate and prioritize skilled trades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darby said that gap is broad-based across the skilled trades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s everything from welders to mechatronics to electrical technicians. It\u2019s right across the board,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we\u2019re trying to help evolve is trying to get better linkages between educational institutions and manufacturers and \u2026 doing more to really make that connection earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report said stakeholders widely expressed that while labour market conditions may be changing, manufacturers still face structural workforce challenges. That\u2019s despite a sharp decline in the province\u2019s manufacturing job vacancy rate, which fell from 4.7 per cent in 2022 to 1.7 per cent at the end of last year \u2014 the lowest rate in more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Darby attributed that downward trend to the trade war between Canada and the United States, as temporary layoffs of manufacturing workers have narrowed the job gap for now. He said roughly 50,000 jobs \u2014 mostly related to steel, aluminum, automotive and fabrication \u2014 have been hit by tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut long term, we\u2019re convinced and our members and companies are convinced, we have to fill that pipeline,\u201d he said, noting around 20,000 workers in Ontario\u2019s manufacturing sector are retiring per year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

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It comes as the sector is facing additional pressure from Canada\u2019s downward immigration trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada has relied historically on skilled immigrants coming to Canada and with those reductions, temporarily that\u2019s caused a real perturbation,\u201d said Darby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve heard that from the colleges as well, suddenly there\u2019s not as many people and the pathways to citizenship are not as clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association said there needs to be more responsive immigration pathways that reflect employer needs, along with targeted government programs to help smaller manufacturers with succession planning.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report from the industry association representing Canadian manufacturers says workforce challenges persist in the country\u2019s largest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-906557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}