Monday, April 23, 2018

Apprenticeship Training Gets Boost from Two Levels of Government

If you had any doubt about the growing need for skilled trades in Canada, just look at the money being rolled out for apprenticeship programs.

Ontario’s new Graduated Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (GAGE) will cover a portion of an employer’s costs for hiring and training an apprentice. Its goal is to create a system that offers “end-to-end supports for apprentices and employers, and responds to the needs of a changing economy and workforce.” In Ontario, 24,800 apprenticeships were registered in 2017, according to Minister of Skills Development Mitzie Hunter. Still, many employers continue to struggle to find the skilled workers they need.

Now, any employer who registers a new apprentice is automatically assessed for this new grant. The amount awarded increases as the apprentice moves through her or his training.

GAGE includes a multiyear strategy that will

• create better incentives for employers to train and retain apprentices by transforming the previous Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit;

• promote apprenticeship as a “valuable postsecondary pathway” to both students and adults who are considering a career in the skilled trades;

• improve the digital outreach of the apprenticeship system, including a simplified online registration process;

• enhance services that support apprentices to begin and complete their training, including increasing the participation of young people and underrepresented groups in the skilled trades.

The federal government is also boosting its commitment to the skilled trades. One of the highlights of the February budget was $20 million to help increase the number of women in male-dominated trades.

“There is a substantial gender gap in apprenticeship training, with women accounting for only 11 percent of new registrants in interprovincially recognized Red Seal skilled trades,” the budget document states. The Red Seal program is Canada’s standard of excellence for skilled trades.

Women training in male-dominated trades will be eligible for the new Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women. It will pay them $3,000 in each of their first two years of training. An existing $2,000 apprenticeship completion grant will still be available, for a total of $8,000 in support.

A preapprenticeship program will encourage more people to “develop the skills needed to find and keep good, well-paying jobs in the trades,” the budget document says. That program will receive $46 million over the next five years, with another $10 million per year after that. The program is offered in partnership with the provinces, postsecondary institutions, unions, and employers.

Ottawa will also spend almost $18 million over five years to encourage more women to train for construction jobs, and to help vulnerable people—including Indigenous peoples, newcomers, and people with disabilities—access government funding for training.

Apprenticeship Training Gets Boost from Two Levels of Government

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