November 21, 2006

Construction main force behind apprentice growth

BRIAN BAKER

staff writer

A nationwide construction boom and an aging workforce are the catalysts behind a 43.7 per cent increase in apprenticeship registrations across the country since 1999.

The record high marks the ninth consecutive annual gain, up 6.8 per cent from 2003, with a grand total of 267,775 new registered apprentices, according to Statistics Canada.

Numbers from the building construction trades featured 60,610 new apprenticeship registrations, representing 22.6 per cent of the total.

The survey population included registered apprentices taking in-class and on-the-job training in all trades, whether they were Red Seal or non-Red Seal, and where apprenticeship training is compulsory or voluntary.

Statistics also show that registered apprentices are getting younger, with a 22.2 per cent increase from 2003 in those aged under 24, adding a total of 89,980 to their ranks.

“Two things are driving the increase: one is the construction boom, but the other is a demographic factor,” said John Clinkard, consulting economist with CanaData

“We are seeing an increased number of people in their 50s and 60s who are retiring.

“The demand for skilled trades is going to continue to remain strong because of the increasing number of babyboomers who are retiring in skilled trades.

“This is creating a shortfall. This shortfall will become more acute as we move forward.”

"We need to involve or train a significant number of people."

John Clinkard

Economist

While investment in the residential sector outstripped the non-residential sector between 1999 and 2004 (55 per cent and 35 per cent respectively), Clinkard noted apprentices tend to gravitate to the non-residential sector if they’re making construction their career choice.

“Residential does not necessarily recruit people who have completed skilled trades training,” he said.

“It is an introduction to some young people. If they find that this is what they enjoy doing and they are good at it, then they will enrol in a trade.”

Ontario, Alberta and Quebec accounted for 77.4 per cent of overall registrations in Canada.

Ontario provided the country with nearly 35 per cent of its apprentices.

“It is reflective, in part of the efforts that Ontario has been making to ensure that we expand and improve our training programs,” said Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.

“The fact of the matter is that the economic future of the province requires that we have more trained people, we upgrade the skills of the people who need them, and we have been investing at every level.”

Bentley added that Ontario is on target for the 26,000 new apprenticeship registrations by 2007/08, and the province will “keep going.

“We are going to keep going. The key is the more trained people we have in the province the better off that our economy is going to be.”

Other provinces recording gains in trainees were Prince Edward Island and British Columbia.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan had slight declines in the West, while Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland dropped in their total amount of apprentices registering.

“We need to involve or train a significant number of people,”added Clinkard.

“It would suggest that there are still shortages in building construction trades despite this increase in the number of apprentices who have entered the construction trades.

“Our attitude has to mature in this area in order to create a positive climate for people to work.

“It is essential that we have these skilled trades to provide us with solutions to our aging infrastructure.”

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