The Ontario government on Thursday announced $2 million in funding for programs aimed at training Indigenous people for careers in the skilled trades.

The province has given $500,000 to Anishinabek Employment and Training Services (AETS) to fund pre-apprenticeship training in carpentry for 15 people and in drywall, acoustics and lathing for 20 people. Participants will have the option to receive welding training as a secondary trade, according to a news release issued by AETS.

"Without the funding, we would not be able to provide the tuition, the wrap-around supports that help that individual from a First Nation community come to Thunder Bay for that training with the carpentry union," AETS executive director John DeGiacomo told CBC.

The organization has run six previous pre-apprenticeship training programs, DeGiacomo said, and 80 to 100 per cent of the individuals in each class landed jobs in their fields.

AETS recently hired a Red Seal carpenter with drywall experience to visit communities and generate interest in the new programs, he added.

In addition to the money for the pre-apprenticeship programs, the province is also giving AETS $250,000 from its Indigenous Economic Development Fund to provide clients with job readiness training – such as math refreshers – level one construction and carpentry training and wage subsidies for work placements.

"This wage subsidy is like an extended interview time that employers will have to see if our client is the right fit for them," DeGiacamo said.

Also on Thursday the province announced $1.5 million in funding over three years for Supercom Industries, the partnership between six Lake Superior First Nations – including Fort William First Nation and the Red Rock Indian Band – that is training community members to build the East-West Tie Transmission Line and future energy projects.

The funding will be used to train 172 new and current Indigenous employees in heavy equipment operation, mechanical harvesting, AZ truck driving (which includes driving dump trucks and straight trucks), tower assembly and construction, according to a news release issued by the province.