Some dated and stale clichés and stereotypes take longer to fade than others… like the lingering perception of skilled trades as rough, low-paying, “blue collar” grunt work, especially compared to traditional “white collar” jobs and careers. However, an urgent industry reality has set in. A skilled trade shortage is the problem. Awareness, perceptions and education are the solution.
Some causes of the trades crunch can’t be changed, like the realities of the demographic shift in the workplace. Stats show that many skilled tradespeople are reaching retirement age. In fact, StatsCan trends and numbers show that Canadians nearing retirement outnumber young people entering the workplace. Demand for a new generation of skilled trades workers is soaring.
For business and for industry, the trends and numbers are the bottom line. There are simply not enough younger workers to fill the gap.
According to a report by BuildForce Canada, the national organization working with the construction industry, over the next decade Canada will need to recruit 309,000 new workers to not only replace retirees, but to meet industry’s new and future demands.
Few know the inside details of the situation better than Emily Arrowsmith, director of research and programs at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.
“Based on recent trends in registrations and historical completion rates, approximately 159,500 apprentices are projected to certify in a Red Seal trade over the next five years. Over the same period, Canada is anticipated to lose 132,000 certified workers to retirement. When coupled with employment growth, this will result in a skills gap of an anticipated 21,300 certified workers.”
She adds that the projected skills gap is in addition to more than 41,200 unfilled positions for certified journeypersons, which works out to about 222,000 additional journeypersons over the next five years to alleviate current challenges and to adequately keep pace with future demands.
There are other obstacles to overcome about easing the trades crunch, including the availability of training and education and the low interest in apprenticeships.
For various reasons, many young Canadians are reluctant about pursuing trades careers, opting instead for university degrees or other traditional business career paths. This is partly due to a stereotyped perception that skilled trades jobs are low-paying and require physical labor, which may not be appealing.
There is also an awareness problem, particularly among high school students, about the realities versus the clichés and assumptions of skilled trade opportunities. Even for those interested, or at least curious, there are not only limited training opportunities but also a perception that training and apprenticeship programs are drawn out, expensive and time consuming before generating a paycheque.
Lack of recognition is also a speedbump about a trades career. Despite the importance of skilled trades jobs to the Canadian economy, there is often a lack of recognition for the value of the work. Skilled tradespeople’s incomes may not be in the range of other workers with similar levels of education and experience, making it a less appealing career choice for young people.
It is partially factual that many training programs do require apprenticeships, which can be difficult to obtain. There is often a lack of funding for training programs, particularly in rural areas where skilled trades jobs are in high demand.
For Edmonton-based sources of skills and apprenticeship training, like NAIT and MacEwan University, the challenge and the opportunity about trades is supplying the changing demand.
“We have seen significant increases in apprenticeship education demand from a variety of programs across many industry sectors,” says NAIT’s Matt Lindberg, dean of the School of Construction and Building Sciences. “As Alberta’s largest apprenticeship education provider, we are continually monitoring application and enrolment data, forecasting trends and responding to enrolment demands and waitlists as resources allow.
“Thanks to recent funding from the province and the Ministry of Advanced Education, we have grown the number of seats being offered in 2024/2025 by more than 14 per cent over last year’s numbers and anticipate over 10,000 seats being made available across 27 NAIT apprenticeship programs.”
NAIT is projecting an additional 13 per cent growth will be required for 2025/2026 to support the Edmonton region’s demand for apprenticeship education.
Apprenticeship and skilled trades training experts explain that, due to the expanding demands and expectations of the workplace, the focus of trades education is expanding. It’s beyond the cliched tool belts and hard hats.
The Red Seal program is skilled trade-specific certification. Traditionally, a Red Seal trades person has met the national standard. Some popular and in-demand Red Seal certifications include construction electrician, millwright, plumber, mobile crane operator, carpenter and others. Although the Blue Seal Certificate program, established by Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, is designed to encourage business training, it often combines a skilled trade with project management and other business skills.
With the tremendous impact of technology in business and industry, robotics, computer simulators, artificial intelligence, advanced tools and other new technologies are also transforming training and trade careers in exciting ways.
Lindberg highlights some of NAIT’S new and in-demand skilled trades programming: electrician and advanced electrical installations, plumber and advanced plumbing technology, heavy equipment technology, automotive service technology, welder and advanced welding technology, carpenter and advanced carpentry technology, industrial mechanic (millwright) and refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic.
Although MacEwan University does not offer conventional skilled trades or apprenticeship programming, it delivers over 300 upskilling courses with a focus on areas like training in project management, leadership and technical areas like business analysis. Upskilling courses help those who may be looking to take on a supervisory or management role or start their own business.
“MacEwan also offers several programs that count toward the Blue Seal Certificate,” explains Dr. Lisa Rochman, dean and professor at MacEwan’s School of Continuing Education. “In this area, we are seeing significant demand for project management training, supervisory and management certificates.”
She acknowledges that, for many students, the length of a training program is a factor, so, “These are training opportunities that range from 40 hours to 120 hours, offering flexible learning opportunities including in the evenings and on weekends.”
The encouraging positive is that, academia,government, business, industry and individual perceptions are focused to address the skilled trades shortage. Education, training, apprenticeships and changing perceptions are solutions to Edmonton’s trades crunch problems.
