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Workforce training
LBS AND APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING, a Marriage That Could be a Happy one Stephanie Hobbs is the Project Facilitator at the Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Board and Literacy Network in Barrie. She answered our candid questions on the apprenticeship trends in Ontario and the LBS providers’ input. DO YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS MOMENTUM FOR APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING IN RECENT YEARS? There has been an ongoing shortage of skilled tradespeople in Ontario and in Canada for several years. The report Apprentice Demand: A 2021 Labour Market Information Report: Ontario, released in August 2021 by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum1 indicates that Ontario will need approximately 88,960 new certified journeypersons over the next decade to keep pace with economic growth and rising retirements, two-thirds of which will be concentrated in the top 15 Red Seal trades. It will be necessary to attract more than 296,350 new apprentices in the Red Seal trades alone. This does not factor in the number of apprentices that will be needed to maintain certification levels in the other trades. At the same time, there has been a decline in the number of youth choosing to enter the skilled trades. As a result, there is a push on to attract and recruit new apprentices. Many trades organisations, training delivery providers, and federal and provincial governments are actively promoting the trades in schools, to parents and to the general public. Governments are also providing incentives to both employers and potential apprentices.
CURRENTLY IN ONTARIO, WHAT ARE THE MAJOR TRENDS OR ISSUES REGARDING APPRENTICESHIP? The trends: › Increasing need for digital literacy and digital technology skills in many, if not all, trades. More trades jobs are moving to smaller percentage of time spent using hand tools and greater percentage using digital tech. › Changes resulting from the new framework for skilled trades and apprenticeship, including the establishment of the new Skilled Trades Ontario2.
Some issues: › Lack of formal preparation for the in-school portions of apprenticeship which leads to many feeling overwhelmed and/or not very successful with the theory and math involved. › Accessibility and inclusion barriers for underrepresented populations – women and individuals from Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and LGBTQ2S communities. In construction skilled trades, for example, women make up only 6% of tradespeople in Ontario and figures from 2020 show that Indigenous people account for only 2.7% of the construction workforce. It is crucial that the trades attract more people from these underrepresented communities. This includes making workplaces and company cultures more welcoming to all. › Reluctance of employers to take on apprentices – perception that other companies will steal them away; issues with the ratio of journeypersons to apprentices. Both an issue and a trend: There is a growing need for partnerships and ensuring wraparound supports are available, e.g. from LBS and employment services, colleges, employers, and financial supports – everyone working together to identify apprentices’ needs and provide the support that will lead to them having a successful outcome.
ARE THERE ANY APPRENTICESHIPS AVAILABLE THAT YOU FIND PARTICULARLY INTERESTING AT THIS TIME? We’re interested in the effects the shift to green technologies will have on some existing apprenticeships, such as changes in what they will need to know and how the training will evolve. The Conference Board of Canada and Future Skills Centre are currently researching these aspects. We are also wondering
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, (August 2021), Apprentice Demand: A 2021 Labour Market Information Report: Ontario: https://literacynetwork.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CAF_Report_LMI-2021_EN_ Ontario_FINAL1.pdf 2 Skilled Trades Ontario is the new Crown agency replacing the Ontario College of Trades: www.skilledtradesontario.ca 1
