In pursuit of its climate, transportation, and economic development goals, the City of Toronto has identified two primary objectives: increasing bike ridership and fostering the growth of the local bike industry. To achieve these goals, the City is constructing protected and interconnected bike infrastructure and running initiatives such as the Be Safe Campaign and Bicycle Safety Campaign to promote bike safety, enhance skills, and boost rider confidence. Concurrently, Toronto is committed to ensuring that the local bike industry and its workforce expand in tandem with the increased ridership, thereby facilitating the training and development of mechanics capable of servicing the growing number of bicycles.<\/p>\n
Currently, the local bike mechanic workforce faces significant challenges in terms of recruitment, retention, and skill enhancement. To address these concerns, the City of Toronto convened key stakeholders to form the Micro-Mobility Workforce Industry Development Committee (MMWIDC). The committee’s primary objective is to analyze the needs of the bike industry, provide support to bike mechanic training organizations to enhance their programs and develop strategies to ignite interest in pursuing careers within the bike industry.<\/p>\n
To advance these efforts, the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) has produced a report that sheds light on several crucial areas related to the bike mechanic workforce in Toronto, including:<\/p>\n\n\n
1. How locally available bike mechanic training programs are currently delivered.
2. Barriers preventing new people from joining the industry.
3. Barriers preventing consistent skill development for those joining the industry.
4. National and international approaches to bike mechanic workforce training.
5. Opportunities for technical training pathways in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n