Provincial funding aims to bolster electric vehicle job creation
To lay the groundwork for the automotive workforce of the future, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), the Ontario government and other partners are engaging youth about the jobs available in the critical minerals industry.
Critical minerals – including cobalt, natural graphite, lithium, manganese and nickel -- are crucial for building electric vehicles and EV battery production.
To lay the groundwork for the automotive workforce of the future, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, the Ontario government and other partners are engaging youth about the jobs available in the critical minerals industry. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)
Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said the government's focus is on job creation.
“Our interest really is the jobs and making the battery and the components of the battery,” Fedeli said.
Building on findings of a strategy released in May, OVIN launched the Regional Future Workforce Critical Mineral Pilot Program for future job creation.
“If you look across the globe, it’s well known that Ontario is leading the future of the automotive sector,” said OVIN head Raed Kadri.
The government is chipping in $1.7 million so eight non-profit organizations and post-secondary schools in southern and northern Ontario can introduce students to careers of the future in critical minerals for electric vehicle and battery production.
Recipients in northern Ontario include Canadore College, College Boreal, Lakehead University and NORCAT.
To lay the groundwork for the automotive workforce of the future, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, the Ontario government and other partners are engaging youth about the jobs available in the critical minerals industry. Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said the government's focus is on job creation.(Eric Taschner/CTV News)
OVIN head Raed Kadri said Ontario is a world leader in developing the EV automotive sector. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)
“This is the first time that the north has been part of the auto sector in more than 100 years,” Fedeli said.
Canadore's Innovation Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping opened its doors to more than 100 secondary school students from Nipissing, Parry Sound and West Nipissing.
They are learning about electric vehicles, sustainable energy, and critical mineral extraction/processing sectors. Canadore received $108,825.
“We’re introducing high school students to the careers that are becoming available as this sector continues to evolve,” said Canadore president George Burton.
“Collectively, we’re building that workforce.”
- Download the CTV News app now
- Get local breaking news alerts
- Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox
Within the program, post-secondary institutions and non-profit organizations hosted workshops, day camps and other educational and training activities in partnership with mining and EV battery technology industry leaders, school boards, Indigenous communities and other stakeholders in Ontario’s critical minerals sector.
Delivered over two months, the eight projects engaged about 5,000 students, primarily in northern Ontario, providing them with an opportunity to learn about electric vehicle and battery technologies and explore career opportunities in the mining industry.
"The province is not leaving one part of this out," Kadri said.
"They’re bringing in the manufacturers. They’re building up our suppliers. They’re inspiring the next generation of our tech companies and they’re making sure we have all the talent to power all this."
The program’s goal is to find more than 3,000 new workers in the province’s critical minerals sector by 2040 to fill future job gaps in electric vehicle and battery production.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Israeli airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut after another strike destroyed buildings
The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut on Friday in a series of massive explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and levelled multiple high-rise apartment buildings.
Killer who stabbed victim 'at least 52 times' dies in B.C. prison
A 72-year-old inmate serving a life sentence for a brutal murder that happened in Chilliwack in 2016 has died, according to the Correctional Service of Canada.
Rescuers race to free people trapped by Hurricane Helene after storm kills at least 40 in 4 states
Hurricane Helene left an enormous path of destruction across Florida and the southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 40 people in four states, snapping towering oaks like twigs and tearing apart homes as rescue crews launched desperate missions to save people from floodwaters.
Former military reservist sentenced for shotgun video calling Liberal MP a 'communist agent' for China
A former Canadian military reservist has been sentenced to house arrest after posting a video of himself firing a shotgun at a picture of a member of Parliament whom he accused of being a 'communist agent' for China.
Maggie Smith, scene-stealing actor famed for Harry Potter and 'Downton Abbey,' dies at 89
Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for the 1969 film 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in 'Downton Abbey' and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.
U.S. fines Air Canada over flights over prohibited Iraqi airspace
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday it had fined Air Canada US$250,000 for operating flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace.
P.E.I. shellfish festival gastrointestinal illness outbreak largest in province's history: health officer
More than 550 symptomatic people responded to an online questionnaire about a gastrointestinal illness at a Prince Edward Island shellfish festival last weekend.
Ship, extra CAF members deployed near Lebanon in case of evacuation needs: defence minister
Defence Minister Bill Blair says there is a ship in place near Lebanon, as well as 150 deployed additional Canadian Armed Forces members prepared for a military-assisted departure of stranded Canadians, if more violence in the region requires it.
Canada booking seats on flights out of Lebanon
Global Affairs Canada began booking blocks of seats on the few remaining commercial flights leaving Lebanon on Friday as it issued another urgent plea for any Canadians in the country to leave immediately.