The construction industry continues to grapple with a global skilled trade shortage. Contractors are struggling to find enough electricians, plumbers and estimators. The workforce is aging faster than it is being replaced, and fewer young people are considering careers in skilled trades.

It wasn’t even on 18-year-old Luqman Shaikh’s radar as an option until he was introduced to the co-op program in Grade 12. 

“People … parents and grandparents, they write off the trades,” says Shaikh.

It’s a myth he’d heard before.

“You want to make good money? You have to get a degree. You have to go to college.

You have to go to university. I never heard anything, really, about trades.”

That changed when he enrolled in the STEP to Construction program, a co-op semester that has been offered through the Toronto District School Board for 20 years. The program partners with construction companies to give Grade 11 and 12 students a chance to sample several skilled trades and see if one sparks their interest.

Students spend a week or two with the construction manager, familiarizing themselves with the overall project. Then, they shadow construction under the direction of an assigned buddy for about two weeks each. They help and learn from the carpenters, for instance, then the plumbers and the finishing trades, following the progression of the project for a full academic semester.

“I saw plumbing, drywalling, electricians, laborers,” Shaikh says. “Through all of that experience, I learned there's a lot more to these trades than you would think.”

When he tried plumbing, everything seemed to click.

“I really fell in love with it. The second I started doing it, I thought: ‘Hey, I'm good at this and I enjoy it, why don't I try to pursue it?’

“You do not have to go to college or university to make proper money,” Shaikh added. “People need to tell kids that you can make good money doing honest, proper trade work –-- and meet such nice people.”

Shaikh’s co-op placement was at PCL’s Limberlost Place project, a 10-storey mass timber, low-carbon building being built for George Brown College.

“You could tell he was excited to be here,” PCL Superintendent Sonny Mercer recalled. “This is where he wanted to be. He had all kinds of enthusiasm.”

Mercer says Shaikh stood out. He was eager to learn and tried his hand at many different skills.

It paid off. After graduating the STEP program, Shaikh was hired by PCL trade partner Black & McDonald as a first-year plumbing apprentice.

“Luqman is a model student of the program,” says Elvy Moro, a teacher with the Toronto District School Board who has been leading the STEP to Construction since its inception. “Students didn’t find success, a lot of them, in elementary and secondary because they were put in an environment that doesn't fit who they are. So once a student finds that pathway that excites them, all of a sudden, everything is moving in their favor. The light bulb goes on.

“For me, as a teacher, to hear a student say that it's been life-changing … how do you put a price on that?”

Currently, the program accepts 88 students a year from more than 200 applications. About 30 different builders and general contractors have signed on to offer co-op positions.

Moro wants to see more school boards offer the STEP to Construction program and encourages more construction companies to participate.

“Anyone I speak to, from trades to site foremen and site supers to owners of companies, they’re just amazed,” says Moro. “They said: ‘Wow. Where was this program when I was in high school?’ I'm excited to see what the next journey is going to be.”

It’s another way to cultivate interest in an industry that is hungry for talent.

“We need this badly,” Mercer says. “I think it's really important for PCL to be a part of that and help the high schools form their plan on how to expose their students to this industry.

“It's a great way to show that there are ways other than the university or college avenues to create great opportunities and great-paying, challenging careers,” he added. “It's just a whole avenue that I think is way under-advertised.”

PCL values lifelong education – classroom and experience alike – and prioritizes learning and skills development of all kinds. 

Shaikh admits he might have missed his calling entirely had it not been for STEP and his co-op with PCL.

“I was going to take the regular college university route. But during my later years of high school, I started feeling like I didn’t want to be in a job where I'm confined to a space. I'm a very energetic person. I like using my hands. I like being on my feet. What jobs are there like that?

“The second I started getting my hands on plumbing and using the tools and doing the fitting, I thought: ‘Hey, I enjoy this.’”

Shaikh plans to work through his five-year apprenticeship program, get his plumbing license and obtain his Red Seal certification. He’s excited about his future and the opportunity to earn a living straight out of high school. He says being mentored by an established company was a huge leg up.

“Being there with such knowledgeable people and such a big company … wow, I didn't think they gave out opportunities like this to people like me.

“Start off with the right habits,” Shaikh says. “Being able to be there with people that know what they're doing – they’ve been doing it for the last 100 years, 50 years –-- it's proper.”

Eventually, he’d like to start his own plumbing business. He plans to take on co-op students, providing the same opportunity he was offered.

“Giving kids hands-on experience is the best way to be able to show them this side of work,” Shaikh says. “I want to help them and show them that there's other ways to make money.

“Something I didn't even know I could do my whole entire life, I ended up being super good at,” he says. “It fit me super well.”