The announcements of building up of Canada’s infrastructure are welcome news to me. A civilization cannot grow without its foundation either being built, operated, maintained, repaired and renewed. All five of those stages creates employment that supports the citizens of a country to contribute to a nation’s wealth.
To support the development of a new workforce of 130,000 to achieve the Red Seal status that is needed in energy, transportation, mining, military, residential and manufacturing, the federal government has announced $6 Billion over the next five years in training and apprenticeships. The B.C. government has announced a $241-million commitment to 5,000 seats in trades training. All positive steps.
The three pillars of apprenticeship
For these investments to become money-makers, Red Seal tradespeople are needed to apply their skills. From my own experience, the three steps in getting an apprenticeship completed in a timely manner are:
1. Have work,
2. Ensure the apprentice shows up every day on time to work, and
3. Provide a training coordinator who can assist the apprentice with a training plan that leads to a successful completion of the Red Seal examination and other qualifications employers need.
These three steps have proven to be important tools in retaining Canadians for the industry. The above steps need to increase to improve the opportunities for more Canadians to participate in Canada’s correct direction of natural resource development.
The federal government has promised an income top-up of $400 while the apprentice attends training in addition to employment insurance. The government claims there are other tools to help employers hire, train, and retain apprentices by providing wage subsidies of up to $10,000 for an apprentice’s first-year salary. Plus, the government is proposing expanding the Union Training and Innovation Program to “enable union-run training centres to upgrade facilities, expand capacity and invest in modern equipment”
Success in the field
I have seen firsthand such programs to work, for example the Filling the Gap: Advanced Pressure Welder Training, it was a program to upgrade apprentice welders and welders across Canada. Between 2021 and 2024, it increased the supply of pressure welders to fill the skills gaps. The measurement of success was of the 306 participants with a 92% completion rate – 96% found employment soon after. This program was sponsored by the Canadian Welding Bureau, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the Boilermakers Contractors Association and the Federal government.
For the armed forces that protect the security of Canadians there is a need to have skilled workers within their ranks and people who prepare our military for service. After a career of serving our country these skilled workers should have the skills that will allow them to easily move into an industry that can use those skills. It would be a helpful tool for recruitment into the military. One group that has been standing up for skilled workers in our military is Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) Canada and I encourage you to check them out at helmetstohardhats.ca
Sourcing the next generation
Where are we going to get the 130,000 new workers that are forecasted by the federal government? That workforce will come from young Canadians and mid-career Canadians along with new Canadians. But at the same time, we need more people in other careers that open the doors to Canadians to select the career they want in many other industries.
I suspect we are going to see the use of temporary foreign workers (TFW) programs using the many different free trade agreements our country has with other nations. When we do use the TFWs, they should be treated with the same equal rights, wages, benefits and conditions as Canadians with a program that will welcome them to become a contributing Canadians. The TFW program should not be used to undercut Canadians or be open to abuse.
The training of workers to build, operate and maintain our civilization we need is not new. At the end of the Second World War, as military personnel came home programs were set up to prepare a workforce to build the infrastructure our country needed to make the ingredients and manufactured goods that were shipped to other parts of the world by our merchant navy. We just have to get back to it. We have seen investments in education before for other industries, our educational leaders know how to do this.
To make apprenticeships truly work there needs to be employment opportunities when the apprentice leaves the school and when the apprenticeship is done.
Let’s get building Canada!
Concluding notes
- I have also seen governments spend money for the training of skilled workers and failed to deliver the work, either due to the shutdown of projects or operating industries from a change in government policies.
- By 2033, it is reported that the country will need 1.4 million trades workers and if we stay on the course we are on, Canada will see a gap of 20,000 Red Seal tradespeople per year. If we want the country to grow, we will need the skilled trades to grow.
- As someone who is a Red Seal tradespeople who is now retired and enjoying life on a pension and health plan that the trade is providing me, I encourage people to look to the trades for opportunities, to the government and business leaders.
Richard MacIntosh is a Red Seal Boilermaker who worked in pulp and paper, hydro dams, oil and gas, cement, and other heavy industries. He is also a former instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, he has extensive experience in trade education, union leadership, and international representation within the skilled trades. Reach him via [email protected].
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