National Forum Dialogues FAQs

In these economic times, how do you retain apprentices in the workplace?

What we’ve found is that if we don’t keep apprentices engaged, if we don’t keep them as part of that project and we don’t involve our supervision with them, the learning process doesn’t necessarily stop, but it stagnates. Everybody takes ownership in how that young person learns while going through the program. There’s a different attitude out there that we have to deal with today. We have to be thinking differently in terms of how we engage those young people and how we keep them within our domain. In some regions across Canada, the demand for work has essentially evaporated so we have to find a way of moving apprentices to other places in this country to find employment. We must also find a way of making sure that they are employable in other parts of this country. We have to network with various organizations so that these people can be re-engaged. If we don’t do that, we will have a problem because all of these people that we brought in are going to find other places to work.

Will skills standards, and particularly the Red Seal, face challenges in these current economic times?

Many employers will not accept tradespersons who do not meet the qualifications that are set for a project or are set by the provinces. We’ve got other issues in this country about mobility and I think maybe these changes that the governments have instituted are looking to address some of those questions. At the same time, many employers will not downgrade skills because we need the highest skilled tradespersons to be able to build our projects. At the end of the day, if the worker can’t do the job, s/he will not have that job. That is the ultimate reality of where we are in industry. There is a valid fear our there though, and we have to be firm about what our skills requirements are and maintain a high standard. The Red Seal is that standard.

What opportunities could a community-based consortium in apprenticeship offer?

While apprenticeship is typically considered the preferred option for training skilled workers, the poaching and cost issues are of concern, especially for smaller firms in the industrial world. The notion of the community-based consortia where the talent pool is increased could be viewed as a solution to poaching. As apprentices move, they benefit, but the employers also have a larger pool from which to draw skilled employees. Traditionally, apprenticeship has been viewed as a relationship between one employer and an apprentice. A different approach that still maintains the integrity of the trades, but could allow for different formulations, might be worth exploring.

Although we are facing a downturn in the economy, how can we continue to work towards addressing labour market challenges?

Some local unions do not have a good understanding of the demographics within their membership. They understand that they have people who are getting older and who are probably staying on longer, but they don’t have clear numbers concerning where they are, in terms of numbers, age, demographics, and what they would need to do to bring more young people into the trades. What we need to really do is examine our situation and come up with a way to systemize the process. We’ve got to look inside our houses and say, “Yes, we’ve got a local of 350, 450 or 5000” – whatever the number is, and then look at where we’ve broken down, in terms of age, within those locals. We must figure out who’s leaving the workforce, and how many people we need coming in. Then we marry that up with the amount of work that’s going to come into that area, if there is a general understanding.

Disclaimer: The above questions and answers capture the broader subject matter and themes discussed during the “Apprenticeship Workplace Practices in Our Current Economy” dialogue, and are not necessarily the exact words of either the panelists or the dialogue participan