Apprenticeship
- What is Apprenticeship?
- How does the GoC supports skilled trades & apprenticeship?
- Why Apprenticeships? Why Now?
- Future Direction
- Red Seal Program
- Apprenticeship Incentive Grant
What is Apprenticeship?
Apprenticeship is an agreement between a person (an apprentice) who wants to learn a skill and an employer who needs a skilled worker - "earning while learning." Apprenticeship is a proven industry-based learning system that combines on-the-job experience with technical training to produce a certified journeyperson. Upon completion of the specified training period, apprentices receive a Certificate of Qualification. On average, 80% of the apprentice's two to five year program is spent in the workplace; the rest is spent at a training institution.
Under the terms of the Canadian Constitution, each province and territory has the responsibility for apprenticeship training. Canada currently has 13 different apprenticeship systems, where each province and territory governs their own training and certification policies. Legislation permits provinces and territories to designate apprenticeship programs for their own requirements. Over 200 apprenticeship programs are currently available across Canada.
Other key partners are engaged in apprenticeship whereby employers and unions play and important leadership role within each jurisdiction in guiding provincial and territorial officials and providing input to training programs.
How does the GoC supports skilled trades & apprenticeship?
The Government of Canada offers a national perspective to trades and apprenticeship. Its role is to bring together key stakeholders that hold the principal levers on apprenticeship.
More specifically, the Government of Canada supports apprenticeship by working with the provinces and territories through a 40 years partnerships with the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA). The Council manages the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program (see related links section) designed to facilitate interprovincial mobility of skilled workers by harmonizing trade requirements and certification in 45 different trades.
Furthermore, the Department is facilitating the activities of several national organizations such as the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF) (see related links section) with representation from provincial/territorial governments, business and labour groups, and sector-specific councils for which apprenticeship is a vital concern. These groups are responsible to promote skilled trades and provide a mechanism for the key stakeholders to improve the apprenticeship delivery systems across Canada.
For more information about the Government of Canada's support for the skilled trades, refer to this fact sheet (PDF format)
Why Apprenticeship? Why Now?
HRDC recognizes that workers in the skilled trades are essential to building and maintaining Canada's place in the knowledge-based economy. The Canadian labour market must have an adequate supply of workers in skilled trades and technology areas to ensure Canada's future prosperity.
Apprenticeship - a vital dimension of post-secondary education - is an area of national concern given labour and skills shortages in many skilled trades.
The system is not producing enough apprentices to meet the country's skill needs. At current rates of apprenticeship training completion, there are not enough apprentices to replace current journeypersons who will be retiring over the next ten years.
In order to compensate for the expected attrition as the Canadian baby boomers begin to exit the workforce, an increasing number of younger skilled workers will be needed to fill job openings.
Future Direction
Revitalizing support to apprenticeship and the skilled trades in Canada is an important priority for HRDC, and is an important element of the Skills and Learning Agenda.
In February, the document Knowledge Matters reaffirmed the Government of Canada's commitment to the skilled trades by setting the milestone of doubling (to 37,000) the annual apprenticeship training completion rate within the next 10 years.
The release of this paper led to recommendations emerging from a series of consultations with key apprenticeship stakeholders including employers, labour groups, as well as with provincial and territorial governments responsible for training and certification matters.
To encourage more participation in apprenticeship programs, the challenge is to:
- encourage Canadians to look to skilled trades for employment; and
- increase the apprenticeship program completion rate from 18,000 to 37,000 over the next decade.
- fostering a more coherent apprenticeship system
Red Seal Program
The Red Seal allows qualified tradespeople to practise their trade in any province or territory without having to write additional examinations, thus improving labour mobility in Canada and saving time and resources by eliminating the need for multiple examinations.
- The Ellis Chart
provides an interprovincial overview of the 13 Canadian apprenticeship systems. - National Occupational Analyses (NOAs)
Identifies tasks performed according to the skills required in each province and territory for Red Seal trades. National Occupational Analyses are used to develop Red Seal examinations and can be used to develop curricula in training institutions.