A combination of primary and secondary research tools were employed to address the following four research questions:

1. What is the degree and extent to which Essential Skills are considered a barrier to accessing and completing apprenticeship training programs at present?
2. What initiatives are currently underway and what process did the activity include to determine the depth and breadth of the Essential Skills lacking? Are these initiatives specific to particular regions, trades or segments of the population?
3. Is there a list of Essential Skills that may be key to successes in apprenticeship training? Specifically is there a baseline level of Essential Skills that are key to apprenticeship and are there recommended strategies for assessment?
4. Is there an understanding amongst apprenticeship stakeholders regarding Essential Skills? What is the awareness level? If the stakeholders are aware, what then are the practices if any? How do the stakeholders create momentum for the activity and what are some of the benefits occurring as a result of the initiatives underway? Is there a willingness to implement practices where appropriate?

During the fall of 2005 an environmental scan was first completed and was essential in identifying the programs and initiatives related to apprenticeship that included an Essential Skills component. Using criteria developed by a project Steering Committee, seven initiatives were selected to be further reviewed as case studies. Results of the case studies and the environmental scan culminated into the present final report.

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2.1 Environmental Scan – Methodology

Using a report completed by the Canadian Labour and Business Centre as a starting point, the CAF-FCA first completed an environmental scan which identified current Essential Skills initiatives in the apprenticeship community, and each project’s objectives/benefits.

The Committee developed a list of criteria that would be used to identify potential Essential Skills and apprenticeship initiatives. The project team determined that the case studies for consideration should:

• Include of areas of the country;
• Have taken place within the last three years;
• Focus primarily on Red Seal trades as a first line of scrutiny, but may also include other successful activities outside of a Red Seal trade;
• Cover a wide range of participants including apprentices, instructors, employers, unions, and governments;
• Cover a range of essential skills barriers, i.e. literacy, numeracy, data search, etc.;
• Have champion connections within the CAF-FCA networks, including the Board of Directors, business, labour, CCDA, IPA Board Chairs, and governments;
• Represent a variety of sectors i.e., service, industrial, construction etc;
• Provide sufficient detail from which solid conclusions can be drawn;
• Relate to apprenticeship; and
• Focus on apprenticeship and Essential Skills.

Secondary research sources were accessed to augment the initial contact list. This included a comprehensive literature review of the following publications:

• The Canadian Labour and Business Centre report Essential Skills in apprenticeship and skilled trades: an environmental scan (2004);
• Conference Board of Canada case studies in employability skills and workplace literacy, available from their public e-library;
• Conference proceedings and articles;
• ABC Literacy Foundation’s yearly magazine Canadian CEO (2003, 2004); and
• Abstracts from HRSDC of all projects related to trades and apprenticeship (dates not provided) which they have funded.

In total, over 180 people in every province and territory involved in Essential Skills and/or apprenticeship were contacted either by e-mail, telephone, or in-person. As a result, 47 Essential Skills initiatives that included representation from businesses, unions, sector councils, community colleges, private consultants, provincial governments, immigrant groups, and non-profit organizations were identified. Only two of the 47 initiatives were national in scope. The remaining initiatives constituted 29 provincially-focused and 16 regionally-focused initiatives.

From the list of 47 potential initiatives, the following criteria were used to select seven case studies for further examination (criteria in order of importance). Case studies were not selected on the basis of geography alone (one per province/territory), rather the project team decided that the in-depth case studies should:

• Represent most of the country’s regions;
• Involve Red Seal Trades (national in scope) and offer a model which could be replicated in other parts of the country;
• Include initiatives that represent a range of stakeholders who are leading/driving the initiative;
• Cover many industry sectors in Canada; and
• Include initiatives that target groups who will constitute an increasing proportion of the future workforce, and often face multiple barriers to accessing and completing apprenticeship training (Aboriginal people and visible minorities, for example).

In addition, other practical criteria were considered. These include: the applicability of an initiative to many trades; the availability of information; the existence of documented evaluation plans and/or methods; and a willingness on the part of initiative stakeholders to participate in the project.

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2.2 Case Studies – Methodology

The seven in-depth case studies represent provinces/territories from across Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and two in Manitoba. A case study at the national level rounded out the group of seven. Table 1 summarizes the lead/driving organization, geographic coverage and the description of each case study. A complete report of each case study including contact information for the Lead contact is contained in Appendices B, C, D, E, F , G, and H.

Table 1: Summary Description of Seven Selected Case Study Initiatives

Source: CAF-FCA Essential Skills project. (2006).

As illustrated in Table 1:

• The Nova Scotia and Manitoba case studies represent system and provincial-wide initiatives;
• Four case studies target specific industries: SkillPlan, OCN and CCQ target the construction sector; CARS targets the automotive repair and service sector;
• The CARS case study pertains to a National Essential Skills project for the automotive repair and service sector;
• The OCN case study targets a First Nations community; and
• The Keyano case study represents a program-specific case.

Data and information for the case studies were primarily collected through research interviews. This was considered the most appropriate method to use to collect the information sought. Interviews were conducted with the lead or key contact of the initiative, senior managers, participants of programs and/or courses, and partners and funders such as delivery partners and funding agencies.

Reports and data were also collected from the lead contact and participants, and were analyzed and incorporated into each in-depth case study. Several organizations’ Web sites were also reviewed to provide further background information about the organization and/or the Essential Skills initiative. Once drafted, the case studies were reviewed and approved by the lead contact of each initiative.

Research Limitations

A limited number of initiatives that were identified by the project team actually met the overall criteria of the project. Only two initiatives were national in scope, while a majority of the 47 potential case studies was from Ontario or Alberta. Few initiatives from British Columbia and the territories were identified. Of the 47 initiatives which met the project criteria, a handful was company-driven projects which focused solely on apprentices. The majority of the case studies were government-driven; most of the others were union or education-driven.

While the project identified four key objectives at the outset, some challenges arose that limited the ability to draw conclusions linked to the four key objectives. This limitation was predominantly a result of the processes used by the case study organizations. Conclusions relative to some objectives were difficult to make because the case study organizations were not in an evaluation phase of the initiative.

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