As 2024 nears its end, I find myself reflecting on what we have accomplished this year at the Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC).
We have continued to expand our reach by inviting key representatives from across the sector to join our Board. At our fall annual general meeting on Oct. 1, in Winnipeg, we welcomed Gilles Pelletier, CEO of the Association Des Fabricant De Meubles Du Quebec (AFMQ), and Audra Denny, executive director of the Architectural Woodwork Manufacturers Association of Canada (AWMAC), to the WMC Board of Directors. With ongoing collaboration from the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) and the Wood Manufacturing Cluster of Ontario (WMCO), the WMC is building a robust base of expertise and support across the wood manufacturing sector.
WMC also benefits from long-standing support across various segments of the industry, including post-secondary institutions, marketing, and consultation. As we continue to strengthen our connections, we’re reaching out to critical touchpoints within wood manufacturing, including modular housing, windows and doors, and suppliers. With this broad coalition, we aim to establish the Wood Manufacturing Council as the leading voice for workforce development and labor market strategy in our field.
One example of our recent work is the Skills Matching and Opportunities in Wood Manufacturing project, with support from the Future Skills Centre. We are hopeful about scaling this initiative further in 2025 with a Labour Market Information Study (LMI) and by digitizing short-term reskilling and upskilling training modules into a centralized online Learning Management System. If we get approved for the funding, 2025 will be a pivotal year for executing this work. The last national LMI study for wood manufacturing was conducted by WMC in 2015-16, and another is long overdue. This new study will capture critical data on the demographics of our workforce, helping us understand diversity in the sector and identify potential recruitment targets.
While current economic conditions may dampen hiring this quarter, we continue to address the ongoing need to replace an aging workforce and to upgrade skills in response to advancing technology. Another important focus is our pilot project in Alberta, funded by the Partnership Fund through Jobs, Economy and Trade with the Government of Alberta. This pilot aims to examine workplace culture and leadership within woodshops. Through this project, we hope to identify barriers that prevent women from entering, staying, and advancing in wood manufacturing and support solutions for the challenges. While many women train for careers in wood manufacturing, their representation on the shop floor remains below five per cent - a significant missed opportunity for the sector.
Additionally, we’re conducting a small workforce development initiative in Vaughan, Ontario through a short-term training pilot in partnership with a local manufacturer. This project, supported by AWMAC, leverages a small grant to offer reskilling and upskilling opportunities. Unfortunately, a setback this year was the loss of federal funding for our pre-employment training program. For over twelve years, WMC has successfully trained youth facing employment barriers, yet we did not receive federal funding for the next round of funding, 2024-28. Not only is this outcome devastating to our national pre-employment training program, but it also highlights the challenge of sustaining not-for-profit operations with short-term, grant-based
budgets. Most of our grants are for one year. Despite these funding challenges, WMC is grateful for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s support. Through this grant we have the resources to do three events that promote careers in the secondary wood sector in Ontario.
Our board’s dedication and expertise are essential to our work, and none of our achievements in training, career promotion, and labor market analysis would be possible without this partnership. In full circle, the WMC enjoys productive and reciprocal relationships with industry leaders such as CKCA, AWMAC, WMCO, and AFMQ, along with invaluable support from our expert consultants and post-secondary programs in wood manufacturing. I cannot overstate the importance of these partnerships in making wood manufacturing an inviting industry in which to train, work, and grow.
Together, we are on a mission to elevate cabinetmaking and wood manufacturing to new heights.
