School to Work Transition

What’s happening in school to work transition for the skilled trades in Canada? Find out at CAF-FCA’s upcoming one-day forum.

Research shows that school to work transition in Canada could be enhanced in order to promote apprenticeship as a primary career path and increase the ability of apprentices to maximize their return on training investment. In 2006 CAF-FCA produced the report “Apprentices Enrolled at Private Training Providers: A Comparative Analysis with the Experience of Students at Publicly-Funded Colleges and Institutes” that suggested, similar to an earlier study done in partnership with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) “Apprentices Enrolled in Classroom Training at Canadian Colleges and Institutes: Profiles, Investments and Perceptions”, that only a small percentage of apprentices surveyed had taken part in a high school apprenticeship program as a way to enter an apprenticeship program.

What are some strategies for attracting youth to high school apprenticeship programs and retaining potential apprentices? How can we track outcomes? What about measuring performance? These and other relevant questions will be discussed during CAF-FCA’s one-day forum on school to work transition that will be taking place in Toronto on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Jurisdictional officials administering these programs will have an opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned to enhance awareness of what is taking place in their regions. After the event, CAF-FCA will produce a report summarizing the day’s discussion around high school to work transition programs.

Objectives:

• Host a one-day forum with jurisdictional officials administering school to work transition programs to share what works in these programs and to consider lessons learned regarding school to work transition programs for the skilled trades.
• During the discussion, identify a set of action items aimed to enhance high school to work programs in Canada.
• Develop a report based on the findings from the one-day forum.

Project Status:

• The project is being overseen by the CAF-FCA Board of Directors and a Working Group, which includes jurisdictional representatives from across the country.
• The final report is expected to be complete in summer 2010.

For more information or to attend the one-day forum in Toronto on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, please contact:
Danielle Matheusik,
Project Manager
613-235-4004 ext. 203 or danielle_matheusik@caf-fca.org