The housing charity Blue Door celebrated as its signature trades training program stepped into a new space and reached its second anniversary.

Dignitaries, partners and students gathered at the new location for Construct in Aurora Dec. 15. The training program from Blue Door recruits and trains people to enter the trades sector, many coming from vulnerable positions. After operating out of office space, Blue Door has now secured a larger building to run the year-round program.

As Construct reached two years of operating, Blue Door CEO Michael Braithwaite said it has helped keep 200 youth out of poverty.

”We want to do more and more with this program,” he said, adding that governments are pushing to build thousands of new homes. “To do that, we need people in the trades. People in the trades are rapidly retiring, there are so many gaps there. A program like Construct fills those gaps.” 

The new space located at Earl Stewart Drive in Aurora offers classroom space wide enough for students to get more hands-on learning before getting out into the field. Courses for Construct run for eight weeks, also offering students support for food, travel and mental health with the help of provincial and federal funding.

Blue Door director of social enterprise Rudi Genovese said the team has really built up the program well over the past two years, which started in the middle of the pandemic.

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