For too long, the skilled trades have been treated as a fallback. Mike Holmes Jr. and Ian MacFayden want to change that.

The co-founders of Point Load Media and hosts of The Trade Life join Stacey and Jacquie to talk about why young people are still pushed toward university, what it will take to put the trades on equal footing, and just how many career paths can open up once someone learns a trade.

Ian shares his own unlikely path from university and accounting to carpentry and entrepreneurship, while Mike reflects on growing up with one of the most recognizable names in construction and building a professional identity of his own.

They also dig into what employers should expect from young people entering the trades, whether Canada has a shortage of workers or a shortage of skills, and why mentorship and craftsmanship matter as much as recruitment. Plus, Ian introduces Project Network, a professional networking platform built specifically for the skilled trades.

Along the way, they tackle construction’s resistance to new technology, building better homes, a 135-kilometre ultramarathon and, naturally, whether Mike would rather build a house with Ian or spend a month filming television with his dad.

Chapters

00:44 Meet Mike Holmes Jr. and Ian MacFayden

01:40 The Kelly Ripa Construction Question

03:42 Growing Up with the Holmes Name

05:53 What a 135-Kilometre Race Teaches You About Business

08:56 How Mike and Ian Met

10:26 The Birth of Point Load Media

11:33 Life in the Skilled Trades

12:34 Why the Trades Are Still Treated as a Backup Plan

18:03 What Should Come After High School?

19:20 Changing Perceptions of the Skilled Trades

21:11 Where a Career in the Trades Can Lead

24:24 Learning the Business Side of the Trades

25:59 Introducing Project Network

31:15 Building a Network for the Trades

37:26 Making Tradespeople Easier to Find

40:19 What Young People Should Expect on the Job Site

44:26 Worker Shortage or Skills Shortage?

46:47 Building Better, Not Just Building More

49:24 What Would You Ask the Construction Industry?

51:27 Technology and Women in Construction

51:55 Why Construction Resists New Technology

54:46 Would You Rather?

Learn More:

Point Load Media

Project Network

The Trade Life Podcast

Hosts: Stacey Allan and Jacquie Daniels

Executive Producer: Ann Normand