Skilled Trades

The Leveraging Technology to Develop Modern Mining Skills project, led by NORCAT with support from the Future Skills Centre, explored the potential for augmented reality and virtual reality to address labour and safety challenges in mining and construction. By incorporating simulations into core training programs, the project aimed to provide safer, more accessible practice environments for new workers while testing whether immersive tools could improve learning outcomes.

To build a resilient workforce that is able to respond to and adapt to changing labour markets, whether due to unpredictable disruptions or longer-term transitions, we need a range of training and upskilling pathways that equip people with the skills they need to enter, advance, transition and return to dynamic labour markets.

This project’s overall goal was to design and test virtual strategies to recruit more individuals, especially those from underrepresented groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, newcomers and youth), to careers in the construction trades.

In the early stages of the COVID pandemic, many manufacturing processes had to shut down due to the lockdowns and the need for social distancing. The Creative Technology Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)—a microfactory manufacturing model—intended to address these challenges and allow production to continue and adapt.

The Skills Match—The Energy Fit project had the broad goal of addressing the skills gap in Canada’s energy industry by using innovative tools, namely virtual reality (VR) technology and an interactive website, to facilitate career transitions.

The Doing It Right project, based in the Yukon, sought to address the barriers faced by women and gender-diverse individuals in the skilled trades.