01-32_GENERALS_SUMMER25_PT - Flipbook - Page 18
ENGAGEMENT
CO-OPS FOR SKILLED TRADES
How a high school co-op nurtures the next generation of skilled workers
By EMILY SMIT-MERTZ, Senior Communications Specialist, PCL Construction
CO-OP PROGRAM in Toronto is
partnering with companies
like PCL Construction to give
students the opportunity to
experience different trades on
an active construction site. For
many, it’s opening a world of opportunity
and a future career in skilled trades.
The construction industry continues to
grapple with a global skilled trade shortage. Contractors are struggling to find
enough electricians, plumbers and estimators. The workforce is aging faster than it is
being replaced, and fewer young people are
considering careers in skilled trades.
It wasn’t even on 18-year-old
Luqman Shaikh’s radar as an option until
he was introduced to the co-op program
in Grade 12.
“People… parents and grandparents,
they write off the trades,” says Shaikh.
It’s a myth he’d heard before.
“You want to make good money? You
have to get a degree. You have to go to
college.
You have to go to university. I never
heard anything, really, about trades.”
A
STEP to Construction
That changed when he enrolled in the
STEP to Construction program, a co-op
semester that has been offered through the
Toronto District School Board for 20 years.
The program partners with construction
companies to give Grade 11 and 12 students
a chance to sample several skilled trades
and see if one sparks their interest.
Students spend a week or two with
the construction manager, familiarizing themselves with the overall project.
Then, they shadow construction under the
direction of a buddy for about two weeks
each. They help and learn from the carpenters, for instance, then the plumbers
and the finishing trades, following the
progression of the project for a full academic semester.
“I saw plumbing, drywalling, electricians, laborers,” Shaikh says. “Through
all of that experience, I learned there's a
lot more to these trades than you would
think.”
18 the generals • SUMMER 2025
PCL Superintendent Sonny Mercer with STEP to Construction co-op student Luqman Shaikh at the Limberlost
Place project in Toronto.
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