Ontario wants more bakers, pâtissiers and chefs

The Government of Ontario is taking action to attract more people to the skilled trades and employers to hire more apprentices. The province is facing a serious labour shortage which has the potential to get progressively worse. On any given day tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled and many of those are in the skilled trades.

As part of the government’s Open for Business, Open for Jobs strategy Monte McNaughton, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, launched a marketing campaign to highlight good-quality, well-paying and flexible careers in the trades, under the slogan ‘Find a Career You Wouldn’t Trade.’ While the television ads focused visually on construction, lumber and electrical fields, the government is looking to fill demand for bakers, baker-patissiers (fine pastry bakers) and chefs.

“We need to do a better job at enticing young people and their parents to the skilled trades,” said Minister McNaughton in a press release. “For too long, we haven’t viewed these challenging positions as a viable first option. That needs to change and our Open for Business, Open for Jobs strategy, including our new advertising campaign, will go a long way towards making the skilled trades more attractive.”

The advertising campaign reflects the passion of real skilled tradespeople in their work environments.

The ads are just one part of the government’s strategy to open up the skilled trades for young people and businesses. The government is also investing approximately $75 million in three programs to expose high school students to the trades: $12.7 million in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, $42 million in the Specialist High Skills major program and $20.8 million in a pre-apprenticeship program.

Minister McNaughton added, “When it comes to opportunity, to earning potential, to having a chance to start your own business, the skilled trades come out on top.”

Over the first nine months of 2019, Ontario employers had, on average, 204,000 job openings across all occupations and industries.

If you are thinking of becoming a professional baker in Ontario, or if you would like to hire an apprentice to become a baker in Ontario, below are some handy resources from the College of Trades:

• The Apprenticeship Training Standard log book for Bakers (423A) and Baker-Pâtissier (423C)
• Apprenticeship Curriculum Standard for Bakers and Pâtissiers, levels 1,2 and 3
• The Apprenticeship Curriculum Standard for Chefs, (415C)
• The Apprenticeship Training Standard Schedule of Training for Chefs