Sunday, November 1, 2020

Apprenticeships and Completion Rates Going Up

Efforts to get more people into the skilled trades are starting to pay off

Newsletters Alberta Local 63 BC Local 68 Manitoba Local 152 Ontario Construction Saskatchewan Local 151 Sectors Construction

For years, we’ve been told that we are on the edge of a skilled trades shortage. With 261,100 tradespeople expected to retire over the next 10 years, and only 221,300 people expected to enter their roles, industry leaders are worried they will not be able to find the people they need to complete vital construction work in Canada. Many groups have focussed on promoting the skilled trades to young people, including CLAC and many of our partners such as Skills Canada, Support Ontario Youth, Women Building Futures, and more.

It seems that these efforts are starting to pay off. According to Statistics Canada, apprenticeship registrations and journeyperson certifications grew in 2018, rising 11.6 and 6.6 percent respectively. This is the first increase since 2014, and 79,863 new apprentices registered in 2018.

Among those who completed their apprenticeship, 79.7 percent were in Red Seal trades. The trades that attracted the highest-number of new apprentices were

• Electrician – 14.6%

• Carpenter – 10.9%

• Automotive services – 10.8%

• Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters – 9.4%

• Food services – 6.1%

Women now make up 13.6 percent of registered apprentices, but the majority are enrolled in hairstyling, food services, and early childhood education. But the number of women in nontraditional trades has grown. Women now make up

• 4.8% of electrical apprentices

• 4.5% of automotive services apprentices

• 4.5% of carpentry apprentices

• 2.5% of welding apprentices

• 2.2% of plumbing, pipefitting, and steamfitting apprentices

The proportion of women enrolling in these five trades has risen 3.9 percent since 2008.

Source: BuildForce Canada, Statistics Canada

Apprenticeships and Completion Rates Going Up

You might be interested in