| Recipient: | Helmets to Hardhats Canada |
|---|---|
| Project: | Helmets to Hardhats Canada |
| Province: | Ontario |
| Period: | Fiscal year 2019-2020 |
| Funding: | $160, 000 |
Overview:
Helmets to Hardhats Canada, based in Ottawa, used the funding from the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund to assist Veterans with obtaining careers in the construction and maintenance industry through apprenticeship programs and direct hires with registered employers.
Project goals:
The goal of this project was to expand the program reach and place a Veteran or Reservist in an apprenticeship opportunity every three days, nationwide.
Project activities:
To achieve this goal, Helmets to Hardhats:
- Increased its interactions with construction apprenticeship coordinators and employers so that more opportunities for Veterans, Reservists and senior Cadets would be advertised;
- Enhanced its website presence by adding more detailed information and posting opportunities more regularly;
- Established outreach contacts with various homeless shelters so that program information and opportunities can be shared with homeless Veterans;
- Increased its participation at Second Career Awareness Networking seminars (SCANS) to reach members as they prepared to release;
- Published a bilingual booklet on the program which includes testimonials from Veterans; and
- Produced seven short videos to explain and promote the program.
Project results:
During this project, Helmets to Hardhats achieved, on average, a successful placement of 1 Veteran or Reservist into an apprenticeship program every 3.5 days nationwide. Due to COVID-19, the temporary shutdown in March 2020 impacted their ability to achieve the project their goal of one placement every three days.
A total of 104 Veterans were placed into construction opportunities, representing 8 out of 14 trades:
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 2
- Nova Scotia: 10
- New Brunswick: 4
- Quebec: 5
- Ontario: 38
- Manitoba: 1
- Saskatchewan: 1
- Alberta: 35
- British Columbia: 8
Helmets to Hardhats also achieved a 500% increase in the number of visitors to the website and an increase of 520% in the number of individual webpages viewed over the last year.