Wednesday, October 28, 2026

More Than Holding the Flashlight

From childhood chores to construction sites, lessons in patience and mentorship reveal why the next generation needs a different approach to learning the trades.

By Neil Houtman

Last year, there were a bunch of us in a trailer on the Friday before a long weekend. As the general contractor, we were required to be on site while there were subtrades working. We figured out that we would probably be able to have an early day as everybody seemed to be working a half day. Somehow, the conversation turned to the fact that most of the subtrades were younger than us, and man oh man, “young people just don’t want to work anymore!”

We settled into the joyful realization that our weekends were hours away when we saw the excavation crew working. I went over to talk to the foreman about his intentions and was stunned to find out that this guy wanted to work until 5:30-6! The nerve! On our long weekend!

It took awhile to realize that suddenly, us “old guys” were annoyed that this young go-getter just wanted to work, and it was us who wanted to stop working! The fact is that most young people do want to work, just not like we had to!

I’ve also noticed that my own son does not like to work … like I had to. Growing up, I had to hold the flashlight for my dad. I had to hold the ladder for my dad. I had to carry the toolbox for my dad and run for materials. My dad would spend Saturdays fixing and maintaining the car, the house, or the rental properties my parents owned. By the time Saturdays were over, we had spent a full day doing what needed to be done. It was like one long apprenticeship.

But my son will not stand for that kind of work. If he is helping, he is doing.

A few years ago, when my wife and I decided to redo the garden, my son wanted to help. He grabbed his Tonka dump truck and filled it with dirt. I often had to wait with my wheelbarrow filled with dirt for him to dump his Tonka truck. Last summer, when we redid the patio, my son wanted to graduate from Tonka truck to wheelbarrow, and would wheel a few shovels of gravel to the back and dump it out for me.

His way of working was painfully inefficient, and it took a reminder from my wife for me to appreciate that he was eagerly helping. The patio got done, as did the garden. We had time.

I find it a real shame that in the construction industry, schedules and budgets often take priority over teaching apprentices. Yet some of the most crucial lessons we can pass on require time and patience. If we don’t have time to walk apprentices through a new task—or let them fail at a task in a way that teaches them something—we often give them menial tasks to keep them busy while we go do something important.

Time is a luxury we don’t often have. We need apprentices who are already trained to be resourceful, resilient, and competent—because on most projects, there really is no time to waste on training an employee. We need to hit the ground running.

What I have noticed with my son is that if I am working with him, beside him on the same task together, he will do anything I ask of him. He’ll sweep grass clippings, rake leaves, take his turn holding the flashlight. And I have seen the same thing in apprentices.

Right now in Canada, we’re on the verge of a building boom—the likes of which has rarely been seen. And we have an almost desperate need for apprentices to meet this coming demand. The new generation of workers will need a different style of apprenticeship than a lot of people already in the field had. They need a journeyperson to walk beside them, show them, and work with them.

The next generation of workers won’t tolerate an apprenticeship built around making them endure what we endured. And why should they? If we want to get the best out of them, we need to do more than hand them a flashlight. We need to work alongside them, give them opportunities to learn by doing, and show them what it really means to work in the trades.

More Than Holding the Flashlight

You might be interested in