Doble calls on city to get behind skilled trades programs at Fleming College

Council received a memorandum from Ward 5 Coun. Mark Doble calling on the city to advocate for the expansion of skilled trades programs at Fleming College’s Frost Campus to help train local workers and meet growing demand in construction and related fields.

Speaking at the May 5 committee of the whole meeting, Doble said the city should work with Fleming to expand programs such as the heavy equipment operator course at the Frost Campus and bring additional trades training currently offered at the Sutherland Campus in Peterborough to Lindsay.

He also called for the city to strengthen its partnership with the college under their existing memorandum of understanding and pursue opportunities to support the campus’s future growth while meeting local labour needs.

The push comes as Kawartha Lakes faces growing labour shortages in key skilled trades, particularly in construction and heavy equipment operation, as development continues across the city.

Many of the needed training programs in the region are only available at the Sutherland Campus, creating barriers for local residents wishing to pursue education in these disciplines, the memorandum states.

The memorandum also cites provincial and federal investment in skilled trades training, including funding aimed at supporting housing and infrastructure development, as an opportunity for the city to advocate for expanded programming at the Frost Campus.

Speaking to council, Doble pointed to the recently announced integration between Fleming College and St. Lawrence College, saying the process will take place over the coming year. He said there have been assurances that the Frost Campus will remain open, with increased programming expected there by 2027, and council needs to hold the college to that. (St. Lawrence College campuses are based in Kingston, Brockville and Cornwall.)

Doble said there needs to be local education in the trades that aligns with the needs of the long-term labour market, adding that trades programs offered at the Sutherland Campus are now at capacity.

“Who better than the City of Kawartha Lakes to have input into determining and advising the college as to our local workforce needs,” Doble said. “We know that in the coming years there will be need for long-term skilled trades as we build more houses, more shopping centres, more power centres (and) break ground for more infrastructure.”

After Doble presented the memorandum, councillors shared their support.

Ward 1 Coun. Emmett Yeo characterized the memorandum as informative and timely.

“As a graduate of the trades program at Fleming, (this) is very welcomed,” he said.

Ward 3 Coun. Mike Perry underscored that the shortage in skilled tradespeople has resulted in delayed development in the city and forcing young people interested in learning trades to have to leave in order to get training.

“That’s been a top-of-mind issue as long as I can remember here – how do we keep our young people here – and Fleming College is key to (solving) that,” Perry said.