By Gail Pope
While it can take many people years of trial and error to find a career they truly love, former GROW participant Lyndsey Siddique felt an instant connection to landscaping. The moment she began her training with Landscape Ontario, she knew a career in the trades was her calling.
After high school, Siddique was unsure of her career path. Guided by a love for baking and with previous experience working in a kitchen, she enrolled in the Culinary Management program at Niagara College. However, the gruelling hours and unexpected challenges of a professional kitchen eventually gave her the push she needed to change direction.
Shifting directions
As she navigated this career change, Siddique worried her resume lacked the industry experience needed to attract employers.
“I always knew I loved the outdoors, since I spent my summers hunting and fishing with my family, but I also wanted to get more education in the field before jumping in,” Siddique said. That’s when she stumbled upon Landscape Ontario’s GROW Program through a Facebook ad.
GROW offers both hands-on and in-class training to individuals looking to start a career in landscape horticulture. The program also provides participants with access to dedicated job developers who help through every step of the process, even after graduation. For Siddique, the program delivered the skills, confidence and industry connections she needed to land her first job at Great Lakes Landscape Contractors.
Based in Acton, Ont., Great Lakes Landscape Contractors has been serving customers since 1978 and prides itself in being a one-stop shop for customers’ needs, offering a wide variety of services from paving to decking and design. The company has also been a longtime member of Landscape Ontario and supports a number of programs through the association, like the Horticultural Technician Apprenticeship Program.
This program allows apprentices to learn while they work instead of going full time to a traditional classroom-style university or college program. About 80 per cent of the training happens on the job with an employer, while the remaining 20 per cent is completed in school over two 12-week winter semesters. Siddique recently started this program as a way to further her education and skills in the field.
“What I am most thankful for in this whole process is what a supportive employer I have, and that he is willing to take the time to teach me as many skills as possible,” Siddique said. “I love learning, which is one of the reasons this industry is so wonderful to me. There are so many things to learn and I want to soak up as much as I can.”
Daily life in the industry
For Siddique, no two days are the same. She embraces the variety of the work, which keeps her engaged and constantly developing new technical skills.
“Besides my morning coffee, there is always something different happening,” she said. “One day I could be helping to build a deck, whereas another I am doing general grounds maintenance. I love the constant changes. It keeps me learning and things are interesting.”
Siddique also remains grateful to work in a profession that can make a difference in people’s lives. This includes a project she completed with the team for an individual with limited mobility, where they redesigned the person’s deck so they would still be able to experience the outdoors even with their physical impairments. It is work like this that reinforces her decision to leave the kitchen and step outside.
Advice to anyone interested in a career change
For those looking to enter the green trades, Siddique’s advice is simple: “Just start — that’s the hardest part.” She recommends looking into the GROW Program or finding online courses offered through Landscape Ontario to build foundational knowledge, emphasizing that even learning the smallest detail can have a domino effect.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she said. “Even learning the tiniest little thing could make you aware of something else you need to learn, which is what can be so exciting.”
Learn more
More information about Landscape Ontario’s GROW program can be found at growtraining.ca.
