Colleges creating more training for green economy

Ontario’s next wave of workers will have more skills in areas like renewable energy technology and environmental management, according to a new report from Colleges Ontario, an organization representing 24 public colleges in the province.

Colleges Driving a Sustainable Future: New Careers for a Clean Economy found Ontario colleges are adding more programs focusing on the green economy.

Since the province introduced its Green Energy and Green Economy Act a few years ago, colleges have followed suit—adding 35 programs across a spectrum of fields from sustainable wine making to geothermal engineering.

Programs are also including more collaboration with industry, the report found, pointing to several partnerships underway in the province.

Durham College, in Oshawa, has a research agreement with the Brighton manufacturing company, Green Works Solar Power, to develop a solar-tracking system.

At Fanshawe College, in London, Ont., students helped retrofit a Hydro One grid.

Fanshawe President Howard Rundle said these types of partnerships equip Ontario’s next generation of workers for the changing economy.

“With traditional manufacturing making way for new green industries and opportunities, the jobs of the future require a new skill set,” Rundle said.