As many young Canadians struggled with a cooling job market in 2025, skilled trades continued to stand out as a reliable path to well-paying, in-demand work, according to Skills Ontario.
Canada’s youth unemployment rate climbed to 14.7 per cent in September, the highest level in 15 years outside the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Statistics Canada. Economic uncertainty and U.S. tariffs weighed heavily on hiring in several sectors, particularly service industries.
Despite those challenges, Skills Ontario says demand for skilled trades remains strong and is expected to continue into 2026.
Ian Howcroft, chief executive officer of Skills Ontario, said Ontario continues to face a shortage of skilled workers, even as parts of the construction industry slow.
“There’s still a lot of demand that’s going to continue on,” Howcroft said, noting that large-scale infrastructure projects — including roads, highways, hospitals and schools — will require thousands of trained tradespeople.
Ontario officially recognizes 144 skilled trades, spanning construction, manufacturing, transportation and service industries.
Top 10 in-demand skilled trades for 2026
According to Skills Ontario, the following trades are expected to be among the most in demand across the province in 2026:
- Industrial electricians
- Welders
- Boilermakers
- Automotive repair technicians
- Industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians
- Carpenters
- Asphalt road construction workers
- Concrete (formwork) carpenters
- Millwrights
- Machinists
Howcroft said infrastructure spending is a major driver behind the demand for industrial electricians, welders and boilermakers in particular.
Housing slowdown unlikely to derail demand
While residential construction has slowed and Ontario has acknowledged that its goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 is now a “soft target,” Howcroft said long-term demand for skilled workers remains intact.
“There will be some ebb and flow depending on what happens with the economy,” he said, “but the need for skilled workers isn’t going away.”
The provincial government estimates that more than 400,000 skilled tradespeople will be needed over the next decade to replace retiring workers.
Beyond housing, major projects in northern Ontario — including infrastructure linked to the Ring of Fire — and potential westward pipeline expansions are expected to generate significant employment.
Connecting remote First Nations communities and building new transportation corridors alone will require tens of thousands of workers, Howcroft said.
Training the next generation
Even as manufacturing faces uncertainty tied to U.S. trade policy, Ontario continues to experience shortages in millwrights, machinists and automotive repair technicians.
“It takes four to five years to train people for some of these trades,” Howcroft said. “You can’t wait until demand is at its peak — or you won’t have the workers you need.”
Skills Ontario focuses on introducing trades as a career option early, beginning in elementary school. The organization delivers thousands of school presentations annually and hosts the province’s flagship Skills Ontario Competition, which now includes emerging fields such as cybersecurity and cloud computing.
Mobile training units also travel across Ontario, giving students hands-on exposure to trades ranging from electrical and HVAC work to auto repair, crane operation and hairstyling.
With a large wave of retirements expected in the coming years, Howcroft said skilled trades offer a stable and often overlooked career path for Canadians considering a change.
“There’s going to be strong demand over the next five to 10 years,” he said. “We need to make sure young people — and career changers — are ready to step into those roles.”