Liberals launch $85-million training program supporting apprenticeships
Canada’s next generation of trades workers — specifically women and indigenous people — were the focus of an $85-million announcement made by Employment Minister Patty Hajdu in May.
The Union Training and Innovation Program will be launched with a call for proposals beginning July 24, alongside initial funding of $10 million, to be followed by $25 million annually.
The program supports union-based apprenticeship training, innovation and enhanced partnerships. The government’s investment aims to create a more skilled, mobile and certified trades workforce that has access to good-quality jobs, said Hajdu.
“We’re helping apprentices and tradespeople get the skills they need to succeed, and breaking down barriers for women and indigenous people in pursuing a great career in a skilled trade.”
The program includes two funding streams. The first will see unions receiving financial support to purchase up-to-date training equipment and materials to keep up with technological change and industry standards. The second stream will fund innovative approaches meant to break down barriers that deter women and Indigenous people from starting a career in the trades.
The skilled trades are a growing and vital part of the Canadian economy, and promotion of this sector is critical, said Hajdu. And while there’s been an increase in apprenticeship enrolment, the trades are still perceived as a second choice over university education, she said.
Tradespeople play an important role in the national economy, representing one in five employed Canadians, said Josh Bueckert, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada.
“Though apprenticeship training falls under the responsibility of the provincial/territorial jurisdiction, the government of Canada plays a significant role in ensuring Canada has enough skilled tradespeople to respond to the needs of the labour market,” he said. “The demand for tradespeople will continue to grow as a result of investments in infrastructure and an aging workforce.”
The program will guide development of a future-focused construction workforce, said Robert Blakely, COO of Canada’s Building Trades Union.
“It is significantly good news,” he said. “This is going to make a hell of a difference in a very good way for apprenticeship in the country.”
“I’m really hoping that it’s going to give us more capacity to train. One of the very serious roadblocks for people getting through an apprenticeship is that it’s difficult to complete because there’s capacity issues. Employers and owners want to get people with the skills they need in their plant without… (having) to do any more training when someone actually gets to the job.”
Targeting marginalized groups
One of the government’s priorities is to promote a more gender-balanced and inclusive workforce where women are represented in all occupations and sectors, according to Bueckert.
Women still face challenges in the trades including attitudinal barriers, a lack of mentors, difficulty finding a job, and other discriminations.
“Jobs in the skilled trades are in-demand and pay well,” he said, noting women account for just 10 per cent of new registrations in Red Seal trades.
“When trades such as hairstyling, cooking and baking are removed, women make up only four per cent of all continuing Red Seal apprentices,” said Bueckert.
Similarly, indigenous people face barriers such as insufficient financial support, cultural differences and negative stereotypes.
New money will deepen unions’ outreach to these marginalized communities, said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.
“Part of the target is to try and get more people in the trades from those particular demographic groups,” he said. “This will help tremendously in that regard. The small amount of money which the government is spending on this program will be a tremendous benefit.”
The money directed towards marginalized groups will help foster a culture of change, said Yussuff. And with the government funding new equipment purchases, additional financial resources will be freed up for other training investments.
“Most of the development that will happen over the next bit in this country will come in First Nation Aboriginal communities,” he said. “It will be a terrible thing if all you’re doing is developing their resources but you’re not offering people (a chance) to enhance their skills and work in the sector from which they can benefit tremendously.”
Additionally, women’s numbers continue to be low in trades’ roles, and a call to action is critical, said Yussuff.
“This needs to change, and change significantly,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll end up repeating the same milieu of people that you’ve trained over and over, which is mostly males — and, in most occasions, white males.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can do better.”
Why unions?
The Union Training and Innovation Program will target the Red Seal trades and is open to all unions.
The presence of collective agreements in unionized workforces provided the platform for this opportunity, said Blakely.
“If there was a non-union group of employers who got together and wanted to provide training, it would happen,” he said. “(Unionized workplaces) are using their own money out of the collective agreement to do training. What the government money does is it increases their capacity.”
“It’s not the program — it’s an enhancement on a program that’s already done with private investment.”
The government’s extension of an olive branch to unions is an extremely good development for a variety of reasons, said Yussuff.
“Union-based training has a higher rate of completion,” he said. “It’s about 90 per cent of people who end up completing the program and end up working in the trades, compared to 50 per cent of non-unionized training.”
The number of union apprenticeships has been consistent thanks to bargaining agreements, according to Yussuff. And as long as trade sectors are growing, more apprentices need to be ready to fill in the gaps to offset the growing numbers of retirees.
“The number of apprenticeships will have to increase, otherwise we’re going to have a tremendous challenge going forward,” he said. “The key is to support and encourage people to get into the trades and remain in the trades over time.”
The program is similar to the Training Centre Infrastructure Fund administered under the previous Liberal federal government, said Blakely.
The idea at that time was to have a sufficient amount of equipment available so apprentices could learn on the latest — and most appropriate — equipment.
“The first year is to deal with what you might call pent-up demand for equipment,” he said. “For example, a sub-arc welding machine costs a ton, and really increases the ability for people to produce on the job.”
From there, the program will attempt to deliver solutions to apprentices far from major cities requiring distance-learning formats, said Blakely.
“Community colleges are really a good provider of training, but they don’t provide all the training that there is in the country,” he said. “Significant portions of the training that’s required are delivered by the union training centres. Virtually every welder beyond the journeyman standard has had to do additional training which isn’t offered in the community college.”
“Painters have two or three centres across the country where they’ve got a booth that teaches people how to spray for industrial coatings. So there are lots of applications where provision of this sort of equipment is really a smart thing for people to do.”
