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Colleges applaud apprenticeship overhaul
'It's going to close the gap we have in the skilled trades'
PJ Wilson
Apr 15, 2019 • April 15, 2019 • 3 minute read
The province says it plans to promote apprenticeships and the skilled trades as a pathway choice for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Postmedia File Photo
There will be a greater chance to close the skilled trades gap in Northern Ontario in the wake of the provincial government's commitment to apprenticeship training in the 2019 budget, according to the president of Canadore College.
George Burton says he hopes Canadore will be able to increase apprenticeship training by about 30 per cent, and ideally double the number of apprentices now in training.
Colleges applaud apprenticeship overhaul Back to video
The college sees between 350 and 600 apprentices going through the system now, Burton says.
"It's a good thing," Burton says. "It will make it easier to get apprenticeships . . . and encourage more students to apply for apprenticeships."
The current system, he says, is a tangle of red tape with no clear application process and many of those seeking apprenticeships find it difficult to match up with willing employers.
The province is planning to cut that red tape with a "one-window portal" that will make applications more easily accessible.
"That's a good start at making it easier to apply and to be accepted, and to contact employers" who are interested in taking on apprentices, says Burton.
"It's going to close the gap we have in the skilled trades."
Burton says the major limiting factor will be what is required in the province, and where in the province those positions are located.
"Everybody is looking for skilled help," he admits, but tied to that demand is the availability of people willing to train for those jobs.
Tied in with the increased opportunities for apprenticeships is a need for an "aggressive immigration policy" to attract people to the North, Burton says.
"We have to promote North Bay as a destination with great employment, a great community and a great standard of living."
Modernizing the apprenticeship system, Burton says, "will help make it one of the best in the world."
"Ontario's colleges have been advocating for this change as part of the need for wholesale apprenticeship reform," Northern College president and CEO Fred Gibbons, says.
"The benefit apprentices can expect to receive is in improved clarity in how to navigate becoming an apprentice, as well as in providing the needed supports to apprentices to increase completion rates."
The Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance, which represents companies that employ more than 400,000 skilled tradespeople across Ontario, says that by streamlining and reforming the apprenticeship system, the government is "demonstrating their commitment to work with employers to find innovative solutions to closing the skills gap."
Patrick McManus, chair of the alliance, calls the provisions in the budget "transformative.
"For years, employers have been calling for an overhaul of how apprenticeships, training and skills promotion are managed in Ontario," he says.
The budget responds to those appeals "and will help our skilled workforce to stay in-step with the changing needs of industry and the economy."
Other initiatives in the budget include:
• Establishing a new governance framework through proposed new legislation to replace the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009
• A new financial incentive program to support employers to come together and train apprentices
• Promoting apprenticeships and the skilled trades as a pathway choice for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12
• Enhancing and streamlining labour market information for job-seekers to help identify opportunities for relevant education, training and re-skilling, and career opportunities.
"This change in approach is important to ensure that we are training people in the skills needed for employment in the provincial labour market," McManus says.
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