Companies and unions building worker training centres using money from Ontario’s embattled Skills Development Fund could soon bypass planning laws, raising “significant concerns” for the province’s municipalities and opposition parties.
The government recently passed a labour bill that includes provisions to exempt the centres from the Planning Act, saying they are key to its strategy to boost the skilled trades and construction workforce.
But the Association of Municipalities of Ontario said while it supported similar exemptions in the past for institutions like schools and hospitals, giving them to anyone building a training centre is another matter.
“The extension of these exemptions to private interests such as those funded through the SDF, who operate without rigorous public accountability frameworks and reporting, raises significant concern,” association president Robin Jones recently wrote to the ministers of labour and municipal affairs and housing.
“It remains unclear to AMO how the SDF Capital Stream eligibility criteria provides sufficient rationale for wholly exempting any funded project from needing to meet important municipal standards, including those that ensure flood prevention, safe site design and adequate municipal infrastructure capacity.”
Ontario’s auditor general reported last month that the way the government has been selecting successful applications and disbursing money from the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund’s training stream was not fair, transparent or accountable.
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Her audit did not look at the capital stream, which funds organizations such as unions and private employers to build or renovate centres to train workers in areas such as the skilled trades.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the Skills Development Fund has good objectives but the government has tarnished it through its mishandling. When it comes to the planning and municipal exemptions the bill gives to training centres, Stiles said the government is refusing to listen to concerns as it fast-tracked the legislation and skipped public committee hearings, which it has been doing frequently.
“They ram this legislation through all the time, they never really give anybody an opportunity to comment on it,” she said.
“They should just do it right the first time, have the conversations, do the consultation, talk to the planners.”
The bill ended up passing unanimously, despite opposition concerns. The NDP said while they flagged that issue, they wanted layoff protections in the legislation to get through.
The government said the provisions are intended to address cases like one in Windsor, where a training facility for electricians was delayed by municipal permitting.
All projects funded by the Skills Development Fund capital stream are subject to rigorous accountability requirements, including a third-party due diligence review testing financial capacity and risk, and projects still have to abide by building code, fire code and health and safety laws, the labour minister’s office said.
“With one-third of tradespeople set to retire, Ontario needs skilled workers to deliver on our $201-billion plan to build new homes, transit, highways and hospitals in municipalities across the province,” spokesperson Michel Figueredo wrote in a statement.
“Unions are among the most effective training providers for skilled workers in North America and are leaders in safety training, while helping more youth, women, newcomers and marginalized workers enter the trades, and co-designing programs with employers to meet real industry needs.”
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said taking away pieces of municipal government oversight like planning rules is “reckless and irresponsible.”
“We have planning rules in place for a reason, so these buildings aren’t built in flood plains, for example, or they’re built where we have municipal infrastructure to service them, or they’re not built in residential areas,” he said.
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