Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Getting Into the Trades

CLAC’s Career Development College helps break barriers for would-be apprentices as they strive for a future in the skilled trades

Guide Magazine

By Emma Hamel, CCDC Enrolment and Marketing Specialist, and Lisa Helder, Managing Editor

SURINA RHYME DISCOVERED HER PASSION for welding in her grade 11 and 12 shop classes at St. Oscar Romero Catholic High School in Edmonton.

“I love welding,” says Surina. “I love doing the hands-on procedures and seeing how they look after I’m done.”

Her goal was to become a welder after graduating high school, but she found the pathway riddled with barriers.

“It is challenging to find out where to start your pathway, and it is especially hard for women to find information about the skilled trades,” she says. “I had to source everything on my own. I had no idea what an apprenticeship even was.”

High school students face many challenges to getting into the trades. They are still often pushed to go to college or university and pursue other career options, rather than the trades, by parents, teachers, and guidance counsellors.

Most students aren’t informed about the apprenticeship pathway or given the tools to embark on it. And women face the additional barriers of stigma and sexism, which, though lessening, still exist.

AFTER SPENDING TIME RESEARCHING HER options, Surina discovered the CLAC Career Development College (CCDC) in Edmonton, which offers a 12-week preemployment welding program designed to give students the skills and connections they need to begin their apprenticeship.

“When I finally saw this course and signed up for it, I couldn’t wait to take it,” she says.

The program, which CLAC started in 2017, was the first of the various programs now offered by the CCDC.

The construction industry has been in desperate need for more skilled workers for years. And it has only gotten worse.

The labour shortage is expected to reach over 33,000 in 2025 and is mostly driven by the need to replace workers who are due to retire. In addition, there are flaws within the current, traditional route to apprenticeship that make it difficult to recruit and retain new apprentices.

For most trades, you need to complete an apprenticeship prior to becoming a journeyperson who is allowed to perform the trade. This makes getting into an apprenticeship highly competitive, as not all employers are interested in taking on apprentices.

Employers are also restricted in how many apprentices they can hire. Each province has set its own ratio for the number of apprentices to journeypersons allowed, which restricts how many apprentices a company can hire, adding to the competition for placements.

Students without connections to the trades often have difficulty finding an employer to sponsor them. If they are laid off, they have trouble getting hired on at another company and thus cannot get enough hours to enter their next block of trade school.

To add to this, completing the apprenticeship pathway is extremely challenging when students are not equipped with the proper skills and experience, such as the right high school courses to enter and excel in trade school. And even when they are well prepared, external factors can play a large role in determining apprenticeship levels.

“Because an apprenticeship is primarily work-based training, apprentices are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks,” a December 2020 report from Statistics Canada bluntly stated. Apprenticeship levels dropped due to the 2008 economic downturn, the 2014-2015 downturn in the resource sector, and the 2020 COVID shutdown.

According to Statistics Canada, only about one-third (36 percent) of all registered apprentices obtain their journeyperson certification.

TO ADDRESS THE BARRIERS, more and more preemployment trades programs are being launched in Canada, including CCDC’s program. These programs offer students intensive theory and practical training, which is essential to apprenticeship success. This training equips students with valuable skills, certifications, and job knowledge so they can begin working in their chosen field with confidence.

“Our program is designed to prepare students with all the skills they need—from taking their Apprenticeship and Industry Training [AIT] exam [which you must pass to begin the technical training portion of your apprenticeship in Alberta] to getting a job that they have always dreamed of,” says Brad Bent, CLAC Training’s apprenticeship and jobs director for western Canada. “Our apprenticeship coordinators meet regularly with our students during and after the program to ensure they are continuing their pathways to success.”

CCDC’s approach has been popular with students.

“I used to hate school,” says Surina. “Now, I love coming here! Everyone is really nice, and the teachers are great. The weekly quizzes help me remember the information I’ve learned, and the combination of both theory and practical components really make the program useful. The practical work is definitely my favorite part of the day.”

Surina, who graduated from the program in July 2024, is ready to hit the ground running.

“I feel more confident now than I did before,” she says. “I was nervous when thinking about taking the next step and entering trade school, and I wasn’t sure I could do it. Now, I definitely think I am prepared for my future.”

CCDC’s program instills confidence in the students and helps them believe in themselves and pursue their dreams.

“Surina is eager and driven to succeed,” says Al Blacker, one of CCDC’s welding instructors. “Seeing the enthusiasm of the students, watching their skills develop, and knowing that we are helping them launch successful careers is very rewarding.”

SURINA IS HOPING TO GET a welding job in a welding shop as part of her apprenticeship, but her dream career is in underwater welding.

“After taking this program, I’m confident to go down the apprenticeship pathway and start my career,” she says.

She hopes other students—particularly women—are able to receive the tools and help they need to enter the trades.

“I think any woman can do it—it’s not just for a man to do,” says Surina. “Being the only girl in my class motivated me and drove me to seek success. I want to prove myself—it’s not just a man’s work. I can actually do it.”

To those considering the trades, but are apprehensive, she advises to just give it a try.

“I was scared at first when I saw the grinding and the sparks,” says Surina. “But once I tried it, I had so much fun. I love it now!”

Sources: alberta.ca, BuildForce Canada, cbc.ca, statscan.gc.ca

The Apprenticeship Pathway

Pick your trade. For a full list of designated trades in Alberta, visit tradesecrets.alberta.ca.
Find an employer who will hire you as an apprentice and register your apprenticeship.
Earn while you learn! Work the required hours in your field (usually 1,500 to 1,600 hours per level, depending on your trade).
Repeat. Most apprenticeships require three to five years of on-the-job and technical training.
Go to school. Complete technical training at a recognized training provider (generally seven to eight weeks per level).
Become a Red Seal journeyperson. After completing your final year of technical training, you will have obtained journeyperson status and can challenge your interprovincial Red Seal exam.

Skilled Trades Stats

Statistics Canada reports the highest number of apprenticeship registrants by age group are people 20 to 24 years old. An increasing number of women are also joining the trades.

In Alberta, the number of female registered apprentice welders has increased by 60 percent between 2022 and 2023, rising from 390 to 623. And 19 percent of secondary and postsecondary welding students are women.

According to BuildForce Canada, employment of women in construction increased by 13.5 percent, with an additional 26,300 women entering the trades between February 2023 and February 2024.

While these numbers are encouraging, more needs to be done to meet the skilled trades shortage.

Providing Opportunities to Enter the Skilled Trades

CLAC’s Career Development College (CCDC) helps students—particularly those from underrepresented groups—enter the skilled trades.

“Opening the CCDC in Edmonton in 2017 has given us the opportunity to help people enter the skilled trades and successfully complete their apprenticeship,” says Brad Bent, CLAC Training’s apprenticeship and jobs director for western Canada. “Our college is introducing new faces into the trades, which is a rewarding and exciting experience. Many of our students come to our programs with little to no previous experience in a trade and graduate with confidence.

“One of our main focuses has been to increase our female student numbers and encourage more women to get started in the skilled trades and eliminate the barriers they face.

“The majority of our graduated students receive sponsorships and job opportunities in their designated trades to gain hours toward their apprenticeship and kickstart their careers.”

CCDC Programs Offered

Preemployment Welding Program

This 12-week Alberta Apprentice & Industry Training-accredited program is designed for those with little to no welding experience who are looking to become a first-year welding apprentice. It includes theory and practical training, and students earn a number of safety tickets.

Preemployment Carpentry Program

This 12-week program is designed for those with little to no carpentry experience who are looking to become carpentry apprentices. It includes theory and practical training, and students earn a number of safety tickets.

Scaffolder Journeyperson Program

The SAIA Scaffolder Journeyperson Program is an apprenticeship-style program that includes theory and practical training to keep workers safe, skilled, and certified to work on any job site. This program was developed based on the provincial occupational health and safety code, best practices, CSA Standard Z797-18, and the Scaffold & Access Industry Association (SAIA). It is a three-year program.

Train-to-Employment (TTE) Programs

The TTE programs help people with little to no experience in the skilled trades kick-start their construction careers with two weeks of free training and a four-week paid job placement. Students can take training in welding, scaffolder, insulator, electrician, or carpenter.

Total Students Trained

• 2017 – 6

• 2023 – 340 (26 in preemployment welding)

CCDC’s Facilities

• 3 large training bays

• Student classrooms

• Large student lunchroom

• Student lounge

Wet Welding

Underwater welding involves welding at elevated pressures. When it takes place in water itself, it is referred to as underwater welding or wet welding. But it can also take place in a dry, pressurized enclosure where it is known as hyperbaric welding or dry welding.

Many underwater welders are professional welders who then learn commercial diving. They typically work on ships, dams, oil rigs and platforms, pipelines, bridges, and more. Besides welding and dive knowledge, the work can involve lots of planning and paperwork, complex materials mathematics, and engineering.

Due to the skills required and the inherent risks involved, training to be an underwater welder takes years to complete. The risks and skills requirement are why it is a very highly paid profession.

Considering a career in underwater welding? Consider these stats. Construction work has a fatality rate of 0.0202 percent per year. Underwater welding? Fifteen percent.

Sources: blog.red-d-arc.com, twi-global.com, wikipedia.com

Surina Rhyme

Brad Bent

Al Blacker

Getting Into the Trades

The Apprenticeship Pathway

Skilled Trades Stats

Providing Opportunities to Enter the Skilled Trades

Wet Welding

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