The federal government estimates Canada will need 1.4 million new trades workers by 2033 to replace retiring workers and meet project demand.
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Apprenticeship enrolments hit a record high of more than 101,500 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, but completions of these programs have remained below prepandemic levels. Almost 47,000 apprentices received certification that year, or a rate of 19.9 per cent. In comparison, a decade prior, 93,500 Canadians enrolled in a skilled trade and 59,400 received their certifications.
I feel like there is a generally fraying at the edges, or being stretched thin, that everyone alive is experiencing in addition to all the factors others have listed.
One trade-specific thing I have heard is that fellow workers on a crew can also put pressure on apprentices not to go back to school and ‘leave them shorthanded’. Knock on effects from shitty employers.
I don’t know if it would be viable, or if it already exists, but I would like it to have several routes to journeyman status whether those are more education oriented or more work oriented. I would be more inclined to go if it was setup more like a university degree co-op program - 5 years with an established work-term schedule and with program assistance for placements.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ve done university and am now and then contemplating my obsolescence thru AI. I’ve done a few significant renos myself and am considering going into trades if/when I get canned. I would really love a university-like program. There’s a place, a structured program, theory and practice, by vetted pros, this many years, free/OSAP/equivalent to cover the tuition and living expenses. That way I know I’m gonna be learning the right way to use a miter saw that won’t blow off my fingers, the funding is clear, and I’m not subject to the whims of people whose interests are not aligned with mine.
A long ago, in another country, under a different econimic system, kids would get shop class since fourth grade and then could decide to go to professional high school that teaches alll there’s to be taught to be carpenter, machinist, electrician, etc. You finish high school and you’re ready to work. Could do university after that if you want to specialize in the higher level functions of the field like struc enginer or architect for construction tradespeople for example.