Thursday, November 5, 2020

After OCOT

Recommendations on a replacement model for regulating apprenticeships and the skilled trades in Ontario

When the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, it initiated the orderly wind down of the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT). Since the creation of OCOT, CLAC actively participated in the review and consultations processes related to the regulation of Ontario’s apprenticeship and skilled trades sector.

We stood with other industry stakeholders last year when we successfully opposed the Ministry of Training, Colleges and University’s plan to introduce “portable skilling.” Such a move would have put workers and the public at unnecessary risk, and would have devalued the credentials of a journeyperson’s certificate of qualification. As a result of a combined lobby effort, the government was persuaded to turn away from this plan.

The skilled trades are critical to Ontario’s future prosperity, and it is important that OCOT’s replacement model delivers a system that supports completion of apprenticeship training, protects the public interest, and delivers a fair, enforceable regulatory regime that respects all stakeholders. OCOT has significant flaws, but we also believe that it provides certain useful and necessary functions.

Earlier this year, CLAC submitted a series of recommendations to the ministry on the replacement model. In October, we were able to present these to a Skill Trades Advisory Panel, chaired by Michael Sherrard, that has been struck to create recommendations for the minister of labour. Here is a summary of our submission.

5 Key Recommendations

1. Registration

• Establish a new division within the Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development (MOLTSD, formerly just the Ministry of Labour) with a clear and dedicated focus on the apprenticeship and skilled trades system.

• Retain and maintain OCOT’s current public registry and database. The public registry provides the ability to verify a worker’s credentials.

• Preserve the roles of case managers and empower them to do a better job of advising, coaching, and helping apprentices as well as helping employer sponsors navigate the system and find existing supports.

2. Enforcement

• MOLTSD should assume OCOT’s enforcement responsibility and increase the number of Safety Branch inspectors to support safety compliance efforts.

• Require annual registration and renewal of journeypersons and apprentices.

• Require training delivery agents to punctually report enrolment and completion data.

• Register and publish the number of Certificates of Qualification and Certificates of Apprenticeship issued.

• MOLTSD should monitor compliance at time of registration and when it receives complaints.

• Safety Branch inspectors should be responsible for ensuring restricted work is performed by tradespeople and apprentices who are registered with MOLTSD.

• MOLTSD should be authorized to levy penalties for ratio noncompliance and for work performed by unregulated persons.

3. Defining the Scopes of Trades

• Maintain the existing regulation on scope of trades, as outlined in the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009.

• The Ontario Labour Relations Board should resolve contractual claims by construction craft unions related to work jurisdiction, not MOLTSD.

• Any new regulatory model must not diminish the value or earning potential of the Certificate of Qualification or Red Seal Certificate.

4. Apprenticeship Sponsorship Organizations

• Sponsorship groups or organizations, such as Support Ontario Youth, should be permitted and able to enter into registered training agreements (RTA) with apprentices to provide better support.

• In the alternative, MOLTSD should alter the form of the RTAs to allow fourth-party participation in individual RTAs.

5. OCOT Functions Worth Preserving

• Require employers to initiate registration of new apprentices immediately upon hire.

• Maintain a public register and search capabilities, tracking certificates of qualification or registered apprentice numbers.

• Maintain the journeyperson candidate classification so an individual can stay in for up to one year after a certificate of apprenticeship is issued.

Read CLAC’s full submission (“Recommendations on the Replacement Model for Regulating the Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades System in Ontario”) on Your Voice under the Policy Briefs section.

After OCOT

5 Key Recommendations

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