Canada Facing a Serious Skilled Trades Shortage, Experts Warn

Katherine Harding

The Globe & Mail

August 27, 2003

When Cliff Williams decided to become a plumber, his father didn't hide his disappointment.

That was in 1949. And more than 50 years later the long-standing perception that skilled trades people work at dirty, low-paying and boring jobs is threatening to choke Canada's economy by the end of this decade.

The problem: The country's labour pool -- which is expected to shrink under the weight of an unprecedented retirement bulge within the next five years -- isn't even close to producing enough skilled trades people, homegrown or imported to meet demand. And it's going to be hard -- and very expensive -- to live in a country where only a few know how to fix a broken car engine or leaky faucet, build well-crafted homes or make sure the lights come on when it gets dark.

"The trades have suffered from something of an image problem for many, many years," Mr. Williams said. The Edmonton resident is now the chairman of the Alberta Apprenticeship & Industry Training Board, a committee that advises the Alberta government on labour market issues that relate to training and certification of people in designated trades and occupations. "We've managed to get by all these years, but now that's not going to be good enough."

Mr. Williams, who is also a gasfitter and former owner of a plumbing business, is referring to the shifting demographics as the baby boom ages, the lack of interest by young people in the trades and the dwindling supply of skilled immigrants who used to eagerly line up at Canada's door, looking for work and a fresh start.

Governments at all levels, non-profit organizations and even some companies are working feverishly to make sure the impending skilled-trades crunch doesn't cripple the economy. There are very few industries and sectors that won't be affected and some -- such as oil and gas and construction -- are already feeling the pinch.

But the main hurdle is that they all seem to be working off different blueprints.

For starters, apprenticeship certification and training are a provincial and territorial responsibility, so from British Columbia to Newfoundland the criteria aspiring trades people must meet to get their journeyman's papers vary widely. "That's why we often say this is a story with 13 different endings," said Eric Parisien, an apprenticeship and human resources director at Human Resources Development Canada.

There are three main strategies being used across the country to increase the supply of skilled trades people:

The grow-your-own solution. The theory is to finally do the impossible -- get young Canadians interested in careers such as tool-and-die making or boiler making at the earliest age possible. The older they are, the less likely they will successfully complete an apprenticeship training program.

Attract and fast-track more skilled immigrants into jobs. Experts argue that the federal government isn't allowing enough highly qualified newcomers into Canada. They are also worried that there isn't enough settlement support - especially in smaller centres - and help for newcomers requiring work licences or certification.

Overhaul or tweak the provincial apprenticeship training systems. Critics have long argued that these on-the-job training programs -- which are essentially three- to five-year work contracts between an employer, student and the province -- can be too long, bureaucratic and inflexible.

Since 1996, the number of Canadians who have registered annually as apprentices has steadily increased. According to Statistics Canada, there are about 200,000 registered apprentices across the country. However, the actual completion rate has never exceeded 30,000 annually. Over the past 20 years it has remained flat as a board.

However, convincing young people that skilled trades are an attractive career choice is difficult. While the choice is made easier by the fact that it's possible for a skilled trades person to make a six-figure salary, "parents are something of a stumbling block," Mr. Williams said. "Most want their children to go to university. Universities have done a very good job in becoming the first choice. We need to get better."

And the education system has more than accommodated this social norm. Every year, universities churn out armies of lawyers, doctors, consultants and scientists, while colleges and training schools plug away with less recognition and smaller budgets.

According to Statistics Canada, about four million people had a university degree in 2001. That's an increase of five percentage points from 1991. Another 3.2 million, or 16 per cent, had completed college, up from 12 per cent from a decade earlier. However, only 2.4 million, or 12 per cent, were qualified in a trade, and that was the same proportion a decade earlier.

Because pursuing a skilled trade isn't on the radar screens of most kids, many never check out technical classes in high school. For example, in Ontario, about 20 per cent of the course credits obtained by high school students in 1966 were in technical subjects. By 1990, that figure had dropped to 5 per cent. Today it's even lower.

And because enrolment is down, it's become easier for many cash-strapped school boards across the country to freeze and even slash the budgets of technology courses.

"It's hard to convince students to sign up for tech classes when the equipment isn't even being used anymore in the real world," said Robert Crumb, a technology curriculum consultant for the York Region District School board. It's akin to asking prospective computer programmers to train on Commodore 64s, he said. There's no point.

Steve Wort, a carpentry apprentice in Whitehorse, is confident he'd probably be "a boring accountant" today if it weren't for a chance Grade 9 shop class.

"Every school should give students exposure to this stuff," the 21-year-old said. "I can't even imagine my life without those classes. . . . I like to have a product to show. I was never one to push paper."

He's completing his four-year apprenticeship with a small homebuilder (the majority of apprentices work for small to medium-sized companies) and making about $30,000 a year.

"I'm doing a lot better than a lot of people my age," he said. When Mr. Wort gets his journeyman certificate he can expect to make $50,000 to $60,000 a year.

Gail Smyth wants Canada to capitalize more on success stories such as Mr. Wort's. She's the executive director of Skills Canada-Ontario, a non-profit organization based in Kitchener, Ont., geared toward getting more young people to choose skilled trades for their occupation.

She's particularly proud of her organization's recent television advertising campaign that featured young trades people driving around in luxury cars. The ads were mainly aired in the Kitchener-Waterloo area last year.

"We wanted to show people that jobs in skilled trades and technology are cool," Ms. Smyth said. "That they are for young people; people who are good looking and with it. And we wanted to show the money factor; that's why they are driving nice cars."

Economist Prem Benimadhu of the Conference Board of Canada said all these efforts to enlist Canada's youth to the blue-collar ranks are noble, but are probably a little too late and unrealistic.

"We're going to need a seismic cultural and value shift within society," he said. "There is a bias against this type of education, especially in parents' minds."

Mr. Benimadhu predicted that the shift will likely only occur when the trades shortage hits a crisis point -- probably around 2006.

"The marketplace will direct people eventually," he said. "At the end of the day, if I've got a degree in philosophy and I can't find work, well I can philosophize all I want, but I won't be able to get a job. People will look around and see where the well-paying jobs are."

In the meantime, immigration should be picking up the slack, but unfortunately it's not, Mr. Benimadhu said.

"Canada isn't the preferred destination for high-talent immigrants," he said, adding that this country is getting a reputation that it squanders foreign talent, just when the global competition for skills is heating up.

Critics have long argued that skilled immigrants -- which make up the bulk of newcomers let in every year by Ottawa -- are often abandoned into a confusing accreditation mess once they arrive.

"There's a disconnect between when immigrants come into Canada and when their qualifications are verified and recognized. Too often they just give up in frustration," said Debbie Spence, a senior co-ordinator at Hamilton's Industry-Education Council, an education and training agency.

She said employers and occupational bodies need more help when it comes to evaluating an immigrant's education, credentials and past work experience.

"Things need to be more standardized. . . . An employer just wants to know if the person can really hack the job."

Last fall, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, based in Toronto, released a policy paper that called on the government to overhaul the immigration selection process and offer training tax credits.

"We think the [federal] government is finally listening, but it still seems like they don't care," association president Gerry Fedchun said, especially when it comes to listening to their suggestions about proposed changes to the immigration system.

The association thinks too much weight is placed on an immigrant knowing both official languages, but not enough on their particular skill set. "We need people who know the language of mathematics and technology. There is no reward for that," Mr. Fedchun said.

All of these problems and issues are a provincial government's worst nightmare. And finding and training their way out of it seems to mean a different thing for each province.

For instance, Ontario is getting set to use money -- and lots of it -- to attract and keep new apprentices. Millions will be poured into programs such as high school technological classes and pre-apprenticeship courses. There's even a proposal to give companies who take on apprentices a special 10-per-cent tax credit.

This year, the province is set to spend $116-million on its apprenticeship system. About 61,000 apprentices are employed by more than 23,300 companies and 136 trades across Ontario.

There's also a plan to make apprenticeships more attractive by allowing students to also get a diploma when completing this type of training program.

The Alberta government has placed a lot of faith in Mr. Williams' board -- made up of about 600 people from both industry and trades -- to keep it abreast of labour trends and needs.

This innovative bottom-up approach has helped the province train more than 20 per cent of the country's apprentices, even though it has less than 10 per cent of Canada's population. There are more than 40,000 registered apprentices in Alberta, an increase of 60 per cent since 1996.

And the province has also managed to attract people while they are young -- the average age of an Alberta apprentice is 19, while the national average is about 26.

"We aren't just do-gooders," Mr. Williams said.

"It's because we have a significant demand for trained workers. We had to do this or we'd lose business. It works well because we are working with current information that feeds up from the local apprenticeship committees to the provincial apprenticeship committee and then to our board."

But at least one province would rather transform the traditional apprenticeship training system: British Columbia has started a controversial plan to dramatically overhaul how it prepares its future trades people.

In a bid to make the system more flexible and efficient, the government will now recognize specific competencies without the need to complete a full training program. For example, a person will no longer have to complete a lengthy carpentry apprenticeship just to get work as a framer. B.C. residents can now work toward getting a framer's certificate, which would take less than two years.

Shirley Bond, B.C.'s minister of advanced learning, said the new competency-based system will help to address the high drop out rate among apprentices and also meet the future labour needs of the province.

But most unions and trade groups have bitterly complained that the new system is a sly attempt by the provincial Liberal government to break unions and drive down wages, which range from $40,000 to $100,000, by "de-skilling" the work. Where are the jobs?

The skilled trades shortage is complex because every industry has different short- and long-term needs. The state of the economy will also dictate whether and when employers will be hiring in the future.

However, experts agree there are already a few pockets of pronounced shortages across the country.

Trades within heavy manufacturing, oil and gas and the industrial and residential construction industries have been experiencing well-publicized labour shortages. That means that tool-and-die makers, millwrights and industrial electricians are hot commodities and will be for years to come.

Lots of forecasting and studies have been done by different governments, industry groups and demographers about where the jobs will be found.

For example, in Ontario, the government has identified 12 trades that need people right away, including refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics, horticultural technicians, general carpenters, construction boilermakers and cooks.

However, there hasn't been a comprehensive and sweeping national look at this labour shortage.

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