Promoting Skilled Trades

1
Promoting Skilled Trades Apprenticeship

• A First Choice Career Option

2
The Skills Shortage is Real

• The Conference Board of Canada notes that
• Skills shortages pose a serious threat to the
  competitiveness of Canadian industries and is
  likely to get worse.
• Fewer young Canadians are seeking careers as
  apprentices in skilled trades and technologies.
• A significant portion of Canadas aging
  workforce will retire in the next 5 to 10 years.
• By 2020, Canada will be facing labour shortage
  of nearly 1 million workers.

3
Factors Causing this Shortage

• There are deep-rooted, negative perceptions about
  apprenticeship and careers in the skilled trades.
• There is a lack of awareness about the
  opportunities and benefits in skilled trades.
• Apprenticeship is not viewed as a viable
  post-secondary education option.
• Youth are not choosing careers in the skilled
  trades and apprenticeships in sufficient numbers.
• Too few parents and educators are encouraging
  youth to consider apprenticeship or careers in
  the skilled trades.
• Equally important is that many employers are
  unable or unwilling to fully train new
  apprentices.

4
CAF and SCC are doing something about it

• Both CAF-FCA and SCC share a common commitment to
  the promotion of careers in the skilled trades
  and apprenticeship as a first choice career
  option.
• With funding support from the Government of
  Canada, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum Forum
  canadien sur lapprentissage (CAF-FCA) and Skills
  Compétences Canada (SCC) have partnered to
  develop a strategic solution.
• This partnership enables a national,
  multi-stakeholder approach to addressing this
  important and complex issue.

5
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum Forum canadien
sur lapprentissage

• Established in 2000, CAF-FCA is a pan-Canadian,
  multi-partite organization which includes
  representatives from
• Business
• Labour
• Interprovincial Alliance of Apprenticeship Board
  Chairs
• Educators
• Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship
• Equity groups
• HRSDC
• CAF-FCA objectives are to
• Promote apprenticeship as an education and
  training system contributing to the development
  of a skilled workforce.
• Provide a vehicle for the constituent groups to
  work together to support the apprenticeship
  system across Canada.

6
Weve Researched the Issues

• Undertook extensive national quantitative
  research with over 1500 youths and adults.
• Reviewed over 100 reports and studies concerning
  shortages in skilled trades.
• Over 200 marketing campaigns and promotional
  programs were collected and analyzed from broad
  spectrum of organizations coast to coast.

7
The Solution

• Three-year, integrated, pan-Canadian campaign
  focused on
• Repositioning skilled trades as a first choice
  career option in the minds of youth and their
  key influencers.
• Encouraging employers to create, expand and
  sustain career opportunities for youth in the
  skilled trades.

8
Targeting youth, their influencers and employers
9
Repositioning Skilled Trades Apprenticeship
The New Image

• Careers in the skilled trades are
• Satisfying, well paying, secure and rewarding.
• Thriving professional choices that are in demand.
  
• Highly skilled and creative professions.
• Opportunities to Earn While You Learn.
• Careers in the skilled trades are valued and
  matter.

10

11
National Advertising Campaign
Television advertising specialty programming
Cinema advertising
Print advertising
MACLEANS Lactualité
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Now showing
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Advertising to Parents and Educators
14
Campaign Web Site
15
Posters and Brochures
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Supply versus Demand

• Advertising and promotion will stimulate supply
  the numbers, and calibre, of young people
  interested in a career in the skilled trades.
• Ensuring there are opportunities for these young
  people is critical to help balance the
  demand.
• This balancing will require an effort
  specifically focused on employers to encourage
  the creation and sustenance of career
  opportunities.

17
We Surveyed Employers

• Roughly 90 have a very favourable opinion of
  apprenticeship training
• Employers agreed that
• Skilled workers are hard to find
• Apprentices can be trained to your own
  requirements
• Investing in employees improves loyalty
• Apprentices improve the companys productivity
• Only 20 actually employ apprentices
• Approximately 40 employ journeypersons

18
Accessibility and Barriers Key Issues

• Within the Canadian apprenticeship community
  there are a number of accessibility issues and
  barriers that can affect
• Recruitment / Entry people looking to enter the
  trades.
• Attrition and Retention those already within
  the workforce.
• CAF-FCA undertook research to better understand
  and qualify the nature and impact of these
  barriers.

19
Barriers to Training Apprentices

• Negative attitudes and lack of information
• Unwelcoming workplaces
• Costs of apprenticeship
• Impacts of economic factors
• Lack of resources
• Basic and essential skills.
• Shortcomings of workplace-based and technical
  training.
• Regulations around apprenticeship

20
Engaging Employers

• Recognizes real issues and barriers to
  apprenticeship training faced by employers.
• Highly targeted trade related media relations and
  face to face presentations.
• Advertising campaign for employers.
• Support tools, such as brochures, posters,
  Apprenticeship Tool Kit, as well as targeted
  information on the campaign website.
• Employer tool kits now available at the
  campaign booth in the exhibit area.

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Benefits of this Campaign

• Increased value associated to careers in the
  skilled trades and apprenticeships.
• Increased number of young people interested in
  careers in skilled trades.
• Increased number of employers willing to provide
  more apprenticeship opportunities and create long
  term jobs.
• Contributing to a long-term solution to supply
  and demand of skilled labour.

22
Partnerships for Change

• By sharing the responsibility of a Pan-Canadian
  marketing campaign, CAF-FCA and SCC are combining
  and strengthening their national and
  multi-jurisdictional scope and ability to reach
  out to all levels of stakeholders in skilled
  trades and apprenticeship.
• While a national umbrella program will provide a
  framework for change, the engagement and
  participation of many organizations is needed to
  be successful.

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To reach us
Thank you

• 116 Albert Street
• Suite 812
• Ottawa, ON K1P 5G3
• Tel. [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• www.caf-fca.org
• info_at_caf-fca.org