Expert recommends boosting apprenticeships
OTTAWA — A respected American labour specialist says governments, educators and employers should work together to boost the number of apprenticeships for young Canadians in a collaborative approach that would yield “significant payoffs.”
Robert Lerman’s report, commissioned by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, says a comprehensive expansion of apprenticeships would provide young people with greater opportunities for more promising careers and potentially slash the rate of youth unemployment.
The study also asserts that apprenticeships aren’t just a route to jobs in the skilled trades, but could represent an option for young Canadians in a variety of fields and should become a common recruitment strategy for a wide range of industries and sectors.
Those sectors include banking, sales and information technology.
“Con - tinuing the emphasis on ‘trades’ is counterproductive since it suggests that apprenticeships are limited to a relatively narrow range of occupations,” says Lerman, a professor of economics at American University in Washington and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labour in Berlin.
Almost half of Canada’s 426,000 registered apprentices currently work as mechanics, carpenters, electricians and plumbers.
Lerman’s report compares Canada’s apprenticeship system to those in countries that include Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Lerman’s report also points out that Canada’s apprenticeship system is aimed primarily at adults aged 25 and older, and does little to ease the transition for young Canadians from the classroom to the labour market.
“A more extensive system of apprenticeship in Canada would require close collaboration between high schools and employers,” Lerman writes. “Importantly, it would require extensive counselling on apprenticeship and other career-oriented options by Grade 10.”