Thank you to the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills for the important question. Our government is on a mission to help our young people enter skilled trades. That is why we’re making historic investments to show our young people that these careers are ones they can be proud of.

The minister was recently in Mississauga, joined by the wonderful Minister of Education, to visit our latest Level Up! skilled trades fair. Across the province, more than 28,000 young people, parents, educators attended our fairs last year, getting hands-on experience in Ontario’s 144 trades. I’m proud to say that under the leadership of this Premier, we are seeing an increase in the number of apprentices signing up across the province, up 24% last year alone.

To the workers of Ontario: We will continue to work with our partners in the industry. We will continue to make investments to fix the system and help more people find good-paying jobs—

Thank you to the member again for that wonderful question. Our government has been clear since day one: Women belong on shop floors and construction sites just as much as men, full stop.

Actions speak louder than words. We have made investments to support the training and retraining of women in the workforce, whether it is $650,000 to introduce them to the electrical trades, $1 million to the Goodwill Amity program, $225,000 to the career accelerator program, $700,000 for the digital project program and many more.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year the government mandated that employers must provide women on construction sites with personal protective equipment that fits them properly. The steps we are taking are making a difference. We have seen almost a 30% increase in women signing up for apprenticeships. The minister sat with Natasha Ferguson, a young Black woman who has overcome these biases. Under the leadership of this Premier, we are breaking down barriers and working for our workers.