Hammer, saw and scaffolding: new Carpenters Local 1669 training centre teaches safety
New facility in Thunder Bay includes classrooms, open workshop and offices
The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is helping to pay for the new Carpenters Local 1669 training centre at Innova Park in Thunder Bay.
The new facility has offices, classrooms and an open workshop which includes a scaffolding apparatus, similar to what workers will find at many industrial sites, said Wayne Sohlman, the president of the union.
"It's important for all carpenters, and all tradespeople, actually other trades have come in to take our training like working at heights, or in confined spaces, because everybody wants to be trained and work safe and come home to their families at the end of the work day."
The building will help connect workers with jobs, to help meet the demand for skilled tradespeople, the province said in a written statement Tuesday.
"It is imperative that our province and the trades industry have a properly trained, highly skilled, modern workforce from which to draw upon," NOHFC chair Michael Gravelle stated in a press release.
"By supporting projects such as the construction of the carpenters' local 1669's new training facility in Thunder Bay, we are achieving that goal while helping retain highly skilled workers in the northwest."
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Sohlman expects to start scheduling classes at the new centre in early September.