A foot in the door to the steel industry: Sault College rolls pilot program to teach the basics of working in steel.

• Date: 01 October 2019

A rapidly aging workforce in Sault Ste. Marie means there are plenty of jobs available across the board.

No more than in the city's bread-and-butter industry, the steel sector.

According to a spring 2019 labour market scan by the Algoma Workforce Investment Corporation, 29 per cent of the district's manufacturing workforce is over the age of 55 as more people continue to leave the city than arrive to settle.

Sixty per cent of manufacturers reported having difficulty filling jobs for millwrights, industrial mechanics, welders, machine operators, industrial electricians and labourers in metal fabrication.

Employment Solutions, a division of Sault College, launched a pilot program during the sumer to introduce job seekers to career opportunities in the steel industry.

Dubbed Manufacturing Fundamentals in Steel Training, it's a free, 15-week program designed to quickly get people into the workforce as entry-level employees with local companies.

Catherine Tosello, program manager with Employment Solutions, has letters of support on file with several...