On September 15, 2004, the state-of-the-art centre, made possible in part through $2.9M funding from the provincial Strategic Skills Investment (SSI) program opens its doors and enables Lambton College to increase the number of graduates from its process operations and industrial maintenance programs, addressing an impending skills shortage in Ontario’s process industries.
Joseph Cordiano, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and Mary Anne Chambers, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, will attend the opening on Wednesday, September 15 at 4:30 p.m. at the centre.
“We know there is a pending shortage of process operators and skilled maintenance and instrumentation people. The expected shortage will be prevalent throughout the province,” says Tony Hanlon, President and CEO, Lambton College.
The process industry workforce in Sarnia-Lambton and across Ontario is aging, according to a recent demographic study. The generation of process operators and mechanical and instrumentation maintenance workers, referred to as baby boomers, will retire in large numbers over the next decade. The Sarnia-Lambton Industrial Educational Co-operative, which is composed of 16 Sarnia area industrial companies, anticipates there will be 100 new jobs every year for the next 10 to 15 years just within a select group of industrial businesses in Sarnia-Lambton.
With the SSI funding from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade , and the tremendous financial support of industry and local communities, Lambton College will be able to increase the number of students accepted into four programs: the three-year Chemical Production Engineering Technology program; the three-year Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology program; the two-year Mechanical Technician-Industrial Maintenance program and the Bachelor of Applied Technology, Environmental Health and Safety.
SSI is a $130-million initiative of the Economic Development and Trade that supports innovative partnerships to help develop critical skills necessary for business competitiveness in a rapidly changing world.
The $2.9-million grant is part of an overall $10.6-million, five-year project to develop a Centre of Excellence for Process Manufacturing. New laboratories and shops have been added at Lambton College. Resources are being acquired to develop and deliver program curriculum on-line. The project will also focus on raising awareness among Ontario students about the availability of careers in the process industry.
Contact:
Angela Stecker
Marketing and Communications Officer
Lambton College
1457 London Road
Sarnia, ON N7S 6K4
Telephone: (519) 542-7751 ext. 3348
Fax: (519) 541-2446