With the booming province’s labour pool starved for skilled workers, the Ontario government is urging more young people to enter the trades.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton launched a new marketing push Friday to encourage more Ontarians to consider a path other than university.

“We have to challenge the stigma that somehow a career in the trades isn’t a viable first choice when it comes to career planning,” McNaughton said at George Brown College.

“We need to make sure Ontario has enough skilled workers to prosper. Our economy depends on it.”

McNaughton’s appeal came as Statistics Canada revealed that 25,000 of the 35,000 jobs created in Canada last month were in Ontario.

“We need to do a better job at enticing young people and their parents to the skilled trades,” the minister said.

“For too long, we haven’t viewed these challenging positions as a viable first option. That needs to change.”

The government’s ad blitz includes a slick, 30-second TV commercial that shows three skilled tradespeople working in careers for which there is currently a massive demand, and which offer high wages.

They are an arborist, a steamfitter and a tower crane operator.

“Make more than a living. Be proud of what you do. Enter the trades,” intones a female narrator against the backdrop of action shots at job sites.

“Where you can be proud of what you give. Proud of what you know. And proud of what you build. Be proud of what you do with a career you wouldn’t trade.”

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The ads are part of a $75.5-million initiative to promote the skilled trades, including $42 million for the specialist high skills major program, a $20.8 million pre-apprenticeship program, and a $12.7 million youth apprenticeship program.

In the first nine months of last year — the most recent data available — Ontario employers had 204,000 job openings across all industries and occupations. That included 13,000 unfilled posts in construction.

Premier Doug Ford, who tweeted Friday that the province is “booming,” says the most frequent complaint he hears from employers is that they cannot find enough skilled workers.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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