Ontario Helping Good Roads Train Frontline Municipal and First Nations Staff

Government investment funds flexible training for public works and municipal professionals across Ontario

NEWS April 17, 2023

TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing $1,850,728 in a training program through  that offers public works staff in Ontario municipalities and First Nations communities the opportunity to enhance their skills. This initiative is supported through the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Skills Development Fund, a program that offers funding to a wide range of organizations for innovative projects that address Ontario’s labour shortage.

Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, announced this funding during the annual Good Roads Conference in Toronto where industry professionals heard firsthand about the training investment for First Nations communities and municipal staff.

“Ontario needs all hands on deck to help build the highways, transit, schools, homes and hospitals our growing population relies on,” said Minister McNaughton. “Today’s announcement will not only benefit municipal and First Nations employers but provide workers with the training they need so that they can get jobs they can be proud of and earn a bigger paycheque for themselves and their families.”

With the support of this investment by the provincial government, Good Roads will bring training to regions of Ontario where it has not been provided previously. This will benefit municipal and First Nations employers as the traditional barriers of geography and costs that confound rural, smaller, and northern municipalities and First Nations will be removed. Good Roads will be offering courses that meet the immediate needs of their frontline public works staff. Course content will include the basics of road construction and maintenance, heavy equipment operations including snowplows, and leadership training for new supervisors.

“Good Roads appreciates the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s focus on delivering training to historically underserved communities. This funding will help frontline workers upgrade their skills and better serve their communities,” said Scott Butler, Executive Director, Good Roads.

The funding announced today builds on the government’s continuing mission to attract, support and protect workers, and to make Ontario the best place in the world to work, live and raise a family. In support of this effort, the province recently introduced the third Working for Workers Act and is launching a capital stream of the Skills Development Fund which will help build and upgrade training centres across the province.

Quick Facts

• Good Roads currently offers several online trainings for courses for both technical and soft skills, visit www.GoodRoads.ca for more information.
• With the recent third round of funding, the government has increased its overall investment in the Skills Development Fund to over $700 million since the 2020 Ontario Budget.
•  Through its first two funding rounds since program launch in 2021, the Skills Development Fund supported 388 projects in Ontario aiming to create training and job opportunities for almost 400,000 people.
• In January 2023, there were nearly 300,000 jobs vacant in Ontario.
• The Skills Development Fund is supported through labour market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.