New tradespeople needed to avert shortage, official says
The province could face shortages of skilled tradespeople if organizations don’t do more to attract young people into the field, the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board chair says.
Last year, about 13,000 new apprentices registered to learn a trade, down sharply from the 17,200 who joined the program in 2015, j’Amey Holroyd says.
Statistics from the apprenticeship and industry training website show this was the lowest number since the board started collecting information in the current form in 2005.
“I certainly do see this as a concern. We experienced in the last busy (economic) time a rush for needed skilled tradespeople,” Holroyd said Tuesday.
“Skilled tradespeople take three to four years to develop … It’s important for us not to be shortsighted now and foresee the skilled labour force we will need — now is the time for employers to employ apprentices and give them opportunities to work as much as they can.”
David MacLean, vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Alberta division, said recently that as the economy strengthens after a two-year decline some of their members think it will become challenging in the months ahead to find the skilled staff they need.
Many tradespeople are set to retire in coming years, but one factor making it harder to draw new people into the field is Alberta’s boom-and-bust economy, Holroyd said.
“You have a bunch of individuals that rush into the apprenticeship system, which is excellent, but when things take a downturn we lose a lot of them,” she said.
“It’s amazing how quickly people veer away from the trades as an option, which is unfortunate, because we still have a number of trades that are quite busy.”
Alberta apprenticeship programs cover more than 50 designated trades and occupations, typically lasting three or four years as a combination of on-the-job experience and classroom instruction.
Holroyd, a member of the boilermakers’ union, was appointed last year as the first female chair of the apprenticeship board, which advises the minister of advanced education on training, certification and the needs of Alberta’s labour market.
Her focus is on retaining people in the program through such initiatives as providing $1,000 grants to unemployed apprentices so they can take courses and helping set up classes in Fort McMurray to teach the plumbers needed to rebuild from last May’s wildfires.
Mentorship and an understanding by companies about what labour they’ll need in the long term are also important, she said.
The board is holding its 20th annual awards ceremony Friday to celebrate the accomplishments of apprentices, employers, mentors and others involved with skilled trades, which Holroyd said are crucial to a strong Alberta economy.
“When we don’ t have the( skilled) individuals, we can’t move forward on projects,” she said.
“If we don’t have skilled people to replace the skilled people of today … we don’t have the ability in our economy to grow and build.”
We experienced in the last busy (economic) time a rush for needed skilled tradespeople.