Support Mechanisms for Employers

Canada is expected to experience acute skills shortages as a generation of skilled tradespersons retire over the next few years. Recruiting and retaining apprentices will be a significant way for employers to ensure that they have the necessary staff and skills to continue conducting business for years to come. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum – Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF-FCA) has already produced a report outlining the business case for apprenticeship training. This project will build upon the findings by providing a one-stop resource for employers to access information on support mechanisms, such as financial incentives, training programs, training institutions, and pre-apprenticeship, in order to facilitate recruitment and retention of apprentices.

Objectives:

• To facilitate apprenticeship recruitment and retention.
• To provide employers with a one-stop resource for information on support mechanisms related to apprenticeship training.
• To encourage employers to increase their participation in apprenticeship training by demonstrating its value and identifying the many existing supports aimed at them.
• To identify gaps in the support system for employers and make policy suggestions on how to rectify the gaps.
• To increase knowledge about the support system for employers interested in engaging in apprenticeship training.

The project will involve these key activities:

• Conducting research on existing support mechanisms for employers in Canada and around the world. This includes and environmental scan and a literature review. This is being done to form the basis of a research report.
• Conducting interviews with apprenticeship stakeholders, including members of the CAF-FCA Board of Directors, federal and provincial government officials and representatives from the CCDA. Representatives from business associations will also be interviewed. The interviews will serve to add depth to the information gathered during the preliminary research cited above.
• Conducting interviews with employers from different regions and sectors. This is being done to better understand employer perspectives and needs in relation to support mechanisms.
• Conducting focus groups to test our online catalogue of Canadian support mechanisms.

Project Status:

• The project is being overseen by the CAF-FCA Board of Directors and a Working Group which includes a broad cross-section of the apprenticeship community.
• Preliminary research, including a literature review, has been completed for the research paper and catalogue of support mechanisms.
• A draft of the research paper has been completed and is currently under review.
• A draft of the catalogue of support mechanisms has been completed. It is currently being developed by CAF-FCA staff as an online tool.
• CAF-FCA staff will conduct interviews and focus groups in order to supplement the research paper and to test the online catalogue of support mechanisms. These will be with employers and government representatives from across Canada until summer 2009. Interviews and focus groups with a broad range of individuals will help to ensure that the research presents the perspectives of all relevant stakeholders.
• Final report and online catalogue will be released in autumn 2009

For more information, or to participate in the study, please contact:
Emily Arrowsmith,
Project Manager
613-235-4004 ext. 211 or emily_arrowsmith@caf-fca.org