Skilled Trades Careers for Formerly Incarcerated Persons

Northpine Foundation has invested in RD Real Estate Investors’ Path to Independence program to help formerly incarcerated persons in Northern Ontario build stable careers in the skilled trades. Participants often face barriers to housing, employment, training, and reintegration, while communities like Sudbury, North Bay, and Timmins need more skilled workers and affordable rental housing.

The program combines classroom instruction, hands-on training in active renovation projects, trade certifications, financial literacy, entrepreneurship support, and pathways into employment as trades workers, subcontractors, or business owners.

The initiative aims to train and employ formerly incarcerated persons, while making a portion of renovated units available as affordable housing for the participants.