Through the Apprenticeship Enhancement Fund, the college will upgrade its Skilled Trades Training Centre and create multi-use shops to offer training as a steamfitter/pipefitter, carpenter, electrician, construction and maintenance worker, instrument control technician, mechanical technician and industrial maintenance worker.

These upgrades are part of the $2-billion Skills to Jobs Action Plan that gives Ontarians a competitive edge by training for tomorrow's high-skilled jobs.

"We're pleased to invest in skills training at Lambton College. Training and equipment must stay current to build the skilled workforce we need to strengthen Ontario's economy," said Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities John Milloy.

"This investment is great news for the Sarnia Lambton community and Lambton College. It means our Skill Trades Training Centre will expand its capacity to develop skills locally to address the workforce demands in this area," said Tony Hanlon, Lambton College's president and CEO. "The centre helps apprentices acquire the skills they need and enables journeypersons to upgrade their existing skills, thereby ensuring our community's workforce remains highly competitive."

The province also announced that, over the next three years, two training centres in Sarnia will upgrade their training centres through the Ontario Skills Training Enhancement Program (OSTEP), part of the Skills to Jobs Action Plan.

LIUNA Local 1089 will renovate and expand its training facility, and purchase equipment to provide training and meet increasing demand for construction craft workers. This expanded facility will allow for year round indoor training independent of weather conditions.

Boilermakers Local 128 will construct a shop for training, including purchasing welding booths. Funding will also be used to purchase equipment to provide training for the boilermaker trade.

"OSTEP funding will help our industry partners invest in training and infrastructure to build the next generation of skilled trades people in Ontario. By investing in both the LIUNA and the Boilermakers training centres here in Sarnia, we are training people in high demand trades that will give this community a skills advantage," said Milloy.