- Essential Skills
- Foreign Credential Recognition
- Foreign Workers
- Labour Market Information
- Labour Mobility
- NOC
- Sector Council Program
- Trades and Apprenticeship
- Workplace Skills Initiative
Trades and Apprenticeship
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. Apprenticeship is a proven industry-based learning system that combines on-the-job experience with technical classroom training to produce a certified journeyperson. For some apprentices, especially in Quebec, the technical classroom training can be taken upfront through the secondary school system, followed by successive years of on-the-job training. 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.
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 support skilled trades & apprenticeship?
The Government of Canada recognizes that the skilled trades are essential to building and maintaining Canada's place in the knowledge-based economy. It has a clear role in supporting interprovincial labour mobility in the skilled trades and in encouraging more Canadians to pursue apprenticeships and hence meet the growing need for skilled tradespeople that is crucial to the sustained growth of the economy.
The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program
In pursuit of these objectives, the Government of Canada supports apprenticeship by working with the provinces and territories through the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA), which was established more than 40 years ago. The CCDA is responsible for the administration of the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program which aims to facilitate the interprovincial mobility of skilled tradespeople by harmonizing trade requirements and certification in 49 different trades.
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 CCDA works with industry in the development of a skilled labour force and in the facilitation of labour mobility throughout Canada. This is achieved by: developing, implementing and recognizing Red Seal occupations and credentials; promoting high standards in occupational training; fostering harmonization in training among jurisdictions; and increasing public awareness of apprenticeship training and certification. Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) supports these efforts through its Red Seal Secretariat and sponsors a program, under the guidance of the CCDA, to develop national occupational analyses, interprovincial Red Seal examinations and a comparative overview of training programs.
- 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. - The Ellis Chart,
a comparative chart of apprentice training programs across Canada, is produced by HRSDC in collaboration and consultation with the provinces and territories and provides training and certification details for all of these apprenticeable programs.
Employment Insurance
Through the Employment Insurance system, the Government of Canada provides income support to eligible apprentices during their periods of in-school technical training.
Programs Promoting Awareness of Apprenticeships and Skilled Trades
The Government of Canada also supports apprenticeship by facilitating the activities of several national organizations such as the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF) with representation from provincial/territorial governments, business and labour groups, and sector-specific councils for which apprenticeship is a vital concern, such as the Construction Sector Council, through the Sector Council program . These groups help to promote apprenticeships and the skilled trades, sponsor high-quality research and provide a mechanism for ongoing dialogue on issues impacting apprenticeships and the skilled trades across Canada.
Apprenticeship Incentive Grant
More recently, through Budget 2006, the Government of Canada announced major new investments to encourage apprenticeships and to support apprentices in their training. Many Canadians who wish to pursue a career in the skilled trades face financial barriers. That is why Canada's new Government introduced the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG). The grant is available to registered apprentices who have completed their first or second year/level (or equivalent) in an apprenticeship program in one of the Red Seal trades, on or after January 1, 2007.
The AIG complements budget tax measures, available through the Canada Revenue Agency that offset the cost of tools for tradespeople and provide incentives for employers to take on apprentices.
Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit
The Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit equal to 10% of the eligible salaries and wages payable to eligible apprentices in respect of employment after May 1, 2006. The maximum credit is $2,000 per year for each eligible apprentice. For detailed information, refer to Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit .
Tradesperson's Tools Deduction
The Tradesperson's Tools Deduction provides employed tradespersons with an annual deduction of up to $500 to help cover the cost of new tools necessary to their trade. For detailed information, refer to Tradesperson's Tools Deduction.
