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 was nearly done my 5 years of on-site hours and was on year 2 of my apprenticeship classes before I decided to leave. Financially I was okay because I was renting a room and taking public transit so my monthly bills were extremely low.
I left because the trades were full of some of the worst people to exist who were being lead by some people who managed to be even worse. It’s such a commonly toxic environment no matter the business or country I’ve been in. When covid arrived, everyone became exponentially worse and completely unbearable. The amount of ageism, sexism, racism, ignorance, pettiness and whatever else I’m forgetting to mention was just too much and not worth the unnecessary stress.
Going back to the financial aspect, it’s disgusting that apprentices get paid barely anything to support themselves or other dependants. It’s a huge hit just to go to school and anyone that had monthly expenses just couldn’t afford to stop working. Forever being an apprentice at apprentice wages.
One last issue I have is the schooling. I can’t learn in a classroom but I was forced to cram what felt like a years worth of knowledge into 8 to 10 weeks. It’s an awful experience and everyone just cheats because it’s too costly to fail and repeat. And to top it all off, I worked with a lot of older guys who flat out refused to teach me anything on-site like I am required to learn. There was no way for me to get ahead.
I often felt like the apprenticeship program was just a huge exploitation program designed to break people. Or maybe I just had bad luck.
Sexism is the real killer. You loose half of the population from the pool. It not just a generational problem, the old guys teach this crap to the young guys and the young guys pass it on. My brother-in-law sucks with all of his sexist, anti-lgtba2+, racist bullshit. I keep getting told “it’s alright, he is in construction”. Well it’s not fucking alright, the kid is not even 25. I don’t blame people for staying away, they are all business run by sole proprietors so there never will be structure and rules to break the cycle.
Heartbreaking, really sucks you had to go through all that. If that’s a common experience, we’re in trouble here.
Had multiple bros take labour jobs and come back stupider. It’s heartbreaking.
This phenomenon is real AF.
It REALLY depends on who you work for. It’s crazy how varied it is out there.
Unfortunately that is the norm. Its extremely lucky to work trades but not work with the most racist person you know.
Wholeheartedly agree about the trades, toxic shitty men make them living hell to work in, the more successful small business owners in the trades are the less empathy they have for everyone including themselves work work work work work die.
The issue I’ve seen most often is the employer hires an apprentice then drags feet for as many years as possible to keep paying at an unlicensed wage. Often to the point of that apprentice quitting and the employer starts over again.
This happened to a young man I knew who was trying to get into HVAC. He had to start all over again and find someone new who would actually sign his hours. He eventually did, but I could just add easily imagine if it didn’t happen.
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.
Because it’s a tough as hell job that not everybody can do, or has the intelligence to do well. Plus, there are shitty employers just using apprentices as cheap labour.
Boy this sounds like such a mess of a system…
I believe there is an impact based on some of those excellent DIY YouTube videos. People are a bit scared to spend money these days due to global instability. Some of those YouTube DIY videos solve a lot of issues for a lot of people who can’t afford to shell out the big bucks for tradespersons. In the bigger construction industry you have t be someone’s blood relative (/s).
That would be the opposite of what is going on. There is too much work for the trades to handle, and it’s getting worse.
