Energy Minister headlines workshop on Ontario's electricity future

Toronto, ON - The Honourable Brad Duguid, Ontario Minister of Energy says the province's energy future will remain bright, thanks to the combined effort of universities, colleges, industry, labour and government who are partnering to address Ontario's critical shortage of qualified personnel in the electricity sector. Minister Duguid was the keynote speaker at Ontario's Electricity Future: New Skills for New Jobs, a workshop developed by the Power Engineering Education Consortium (PEEC), whose mission is the development of next steps and solutions.

"The economy of tomorrow has the energy sector at the forefront. As baby boomers retire and we approach our target of creating 50,000 clean energy jobs by the end of 2012, Ontario will need a new and young workforce to fill these roles," stated Minister Duguid. "By investing in our youth today through education and job training programs, we will ensure that they are fully and highly trained to fulfill the employment needs of our energy sector as Ontario continues to move forward as the leader in clean energy."

The PEEC partnership was founded by seven universities and eight representative groups from industry and labour. Chaired by Dr. Richard Marceau, provost, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Ontario's Electricity Future: New Skills for New Jobs outlined a number of strategies that would see post-secondary institutions play a leading role in encouraging more young people to pursue careers in the electricity sector.

"As the province makes new investments in the electricity system's physical capacity, we need to match this by developing the sector's human capacity," said Dr. Marceau. "We are truly in a race against time to replenish a significant proportion of the sector's specialized workforce such as electric power engineers, technicians, technologists and many others in the next decade."

Immediately following Minister Duguid's presentation, Amir Shalaby, vice-president, Ontario Power Authority chaired the first workshop panel which outlined the existing electricity HR landscape in Ontario. Speakers included David Curtis, director, Asset Management, Processes and Policies, Hydro One Networks; Albert Sweetnam, executive vice-president, Ontario Power Generation (Darlington New Nuclear); Max Cananzi, president and chief executive officer, Horizon Utilities Corporation; Bob Menard, executive managing director, Power Workers' Union; and Richard Damecour, vice-chair, Canadian District Energy Association.

The second panel which focused on next steps and solutions was chaired by Dr. Cristina Amon, dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto. Panel presenters included Bob Emptage, dean, School of Engineering Technology and Applied Research, Georgian College; Jay Notay, associate dean, Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology, Mohawk College; Patti Redmond, Programs Branch, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities; Dr. Tarlochan Sidhu, professor and chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Western Ontario; and Audrey Cartile, education officer, Strategic Policy Branch, Ministry of Education.

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