THE BE ALL IS THE END ALL!
CAF-FCA EXPLORES COMPLETION IN A RECENT DIALOGUE

Ottawa, February 24, 2010 - Over 80 people representing various apprenticeship stakeholders including Statistics Canada, Trades and Apprenticeship Branch, HRSDC, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Canadian Home Builders’ Association, Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario and many others made this one of CAF-FCA’s best-attended dialogues to date.

And such a strong attendance is not surprising as stakeholders in apprenticeship training know that completion is an issue of vital importance. We know that completers are more likely to earn more, work more and have higher rates of satisfaction with factors such as pay, responsibilities, job security, health and safety, and work relations.

Canadian data from Statistics Canada show there are positive results for those who complete their apprenticeship training including that they are more likely to:

• be employed and in the labour force
• to have permanent jobs
• to earn more than non-completers
• to have their certificate of qualification as almost 90% of completers have their certificate of qualification compared to 25% of non-completers
• to have their Red Seal designation

Nationally, 24,495 people completed their apprenticeship training in 2007, which is up 17.5% from 2006 – the fastest rate of growth in the last 10 years. Our challenge is how do we build on this positive growth? How do we leverage our collective experience and wisdom around “what works” to help our apprentices meet their goals?

Apprentice stakeholders agreed the following works and can be further enhanced:

• mentoring
• tutoring to deal with essential skills and exam anxiety
• a path needs to be set with clear targets and goals
• end achievement needs to be valued and celebrated

Apprentice stakeholders fully supported the federal government’s Apprenticeship Completion Grant.

Canadians need certification and for an ever higher percentage to achieve the real benefits that completion brings. These positive trends must continue so that the apprentice can Be able to achieve All the benefits that come once completing the End of All their training.

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program, CAF-FCA is the only inclusive national body that brings together all players in apprenticeship training. CAF-FCA works under the guidance of its Board of Directors, who represent every aspect of the apprenticeship community. Our work has brought to light a number of key issues that affect apprenticeship training - such as perceived barriers to training; the business case for apprenticeship; and the importance of promoting apprenticeship training as a valued and respected choice for post-secondary education. For further information: http://www.caf-fca.org

For more information:
Margo Royce
Project Manager
613-235-4004 ext. 207
margo_royce@caf-fca.org
http://www.caf-fca.org