Eight new millwright grads ready to help power the future
At a glance
- The latest graduates of the Introduction to Millwrighting training program received their certificates at OPG’s Darlington Energy Complex.
- New millwright hopefuls will now start their apprenticeships in roles across the energy sector, including at OPG.
- Since launching in 2021, the unique program has produced 98 graduates across various sectors to help meet the energy industry’s growing need for skilled trades.
OPG is helping to train more millwrights to power our future.
In early February, eight newly minted graduates of the Introduction to Millwrighting (ITM) training program were all smiles during a celebration event at OPG’s Darlington Energy Complex.
The graduation event was attended by OPG leadership, MPP Lorne Coe from the office of Minister David Piccini, who is Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development, as well as executives from Aecon, Durham College, and the Millwright Regional Council (MRC).
| Highly trained MRC millwrights install, maintain, diagnose, and repair various industrial and mechanical equipment – from pumps and conveyors to the steam turbines that produce electricity at nuclear power plants. |
We need more millwrights and skilled trades to help us build the new energy infrastructure Ontario will need to meet the forecasted increase in electricity demand in the coming years.Jim BrownVice-President of Construction Services, OPG
The ITM program, first launched in 2021, is a specialized five-week course created by the MRC with support from OPG that aims to boost recruitment of Indigenous and underrepresented groups into the millwright trade. This particular cohort was coordinated through a collaborative effort with Building Up, a non-profit group that provides people employment paths to careers in the trades.
With their first taste of training now in hand, this year’s diverse group of potential millwrights will get the chance to take on millwright apprenticeships, including through deployments on OPG’s Pickering Refurbishment project and Darlington’s Small Modular Reactor project.
“We need more millwrights and skilled trades to help us build the new energy infrastructure Ontario will need to meet the forecasted increase in electricity demand in the coming years,” said Jim Brown, Vice-President of Construction Services at OPG. “This program is helping fulfill a real need we are facing now in the energy sector.”
Since its launch, the ITM program has produced close to 100 millwright apprentices, who have gone on to work at OPG’s nuclear and hydroelectric stations.
The introductory course focuses on safety fundamentals, instruction in the millwright trade, and preparation for the aptitude test required to join the MRC.
“OPG has played an instrumental role in supporting this program over the past five years,” said Andy Forsyth, Vice President, Business Development with the MRC. “This program is helping equip new millwrights with the skills they need to start working right away to support the rapid expansion we’re seeing now across the energy sector.”
Millwrights are a trade currently in high demand, particularly with OPG’s construction of the G7’s first commercial Small Modular Reactor, planned Pickering Nuclear refurbishment, and other refurbishment projects underway around the energy industry.
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