The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) offered Level Up! Skilled Trade Fairs for grade seven to 12 students to provide them with an opportunity to explore careers in the skilled trades.

This fall, Landscape Ontario (LO) participated in the events held in Coburg, Barrie, Kitchener, Cornwall, Ottawa, Oshawa, Windsor, London, Niagara Falls and Mississauga to showcase careers in landscape horticulture.

Staff and member volunteers connected with students to share the many different pathways available in the industry (university, college, apprenticeship, direct to workforce), and showcased the 11 sectors our industry represents. The LO display included hands-on activities that provided students a glimpse into several different careers within the industry.

LO would like to thank the volunteers who devoted their time to speak with students face-to-face, share their experiences, answer questions, explain what employers are looking for and why they love working in this industry: Peter Guinane, Oriole Landscaping; Lindsey Ross, Kent Merkley, Tyson Merkley, Living Green Landscaping; Terry Childs, Nature’s Way Landscaping; Richard Rogers; Shawn Collins, Postcard Perfect; Ben Strapper, Wild Ridge Landscapes; Jon Agg, David McLaughlin, Pristine Property Maintenance; Rob Havery, R Havery Landscape & Custom Horticulture Contracting; Sarah Beckon, Allweather Landscape Co.; Liana Desmaris, John Nowak, Amber Watson, Plantscape Windsor; Jason Milling, Ying (Mable) Wang, Charlie Bongtiwan, St. Clair College; Heather Jerrard, My Landscape Artist; Riley Irwin, Hillen Nursery; Carolynn Jongeneelen, Stephanie Vandendriessche, Baseline Nurseries and Garden Centre; Kristi Delima, Snips Landscapes; Diana Paolucci, apprentice with the City of Vaughan.

We are also grateful to the companies who supplied plant material that helped bring our booth to life and supported the Plant ID Challenge: Hillen Nursery, Plantscape Windsor, Sheridan Nurseries (Whitby), Ritchie Feed and Seed.

Thank you to Merit Ontario for loaning us their virtual reality headset for students to learn about personal protective equipment and jobsite rules.

Finally, our gratitude goes to Wentworth Landscapes for sharing renderings and photos of an incredible Fusion Landscape project that enabled us to create an impactful backdrop and posters that visually told the story of the landscape design and construction process.

"I would show [the students] the landscape drawing prepared by Wentworth Landscapes, then say the large picture in the backdrop of the Landscape Ontario booth was the final product,” Richard Rogers said. “Almost every student said the exact same thing — ‘Wow!’"

The 10 career fairs saw over 28,000 students and hundreds of teachers and guidance counselors attend. Many meaningful connections were made. Students are interested in careers that will make an impact and are excited to learn that landscape professionals have a positive influence on the environment, the economy and the health and wellness of our communities every day by creating and maintaining green spaces and green infrastructure.  

"It was really encouraging to see how many young people expressed an interest in working in the trades and specifically the horticulture industry," said Shawn Collins of Postcard Perfect.

Landscape Ontario will continue to support youth in understanding the valuable career opportunities the landscape horticulture industry has to offer.


Captions:
Landscape Ontario member Jon Agg speaks with students at one of the many Level Up! Skilled Trades Fairs held across the province.