Schools work to solve impending deficit in tradespeople

Posted Nov 3, 2011 By Jill Hudson

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EMC Business - Canada will be faced with a serious shortfall of tradespeople by the end of this decade. Knowing this, school boards across Eastern Ontario have been proactively introducing high school students to the trades.

Contributing factors to the shortfall include a combination of mass retirements of the baby boomers, an amplified demand for natural resources internationally, and an increase in residential and institutional projects. Another reason is that during the 1990s money normally spent on technical training was re-allocated to information technology training.

"Right now there is a shortage in sheet metal workers, heating/ventilating and air conditioning technicians. We know that," said Alex MacDougall, coordinator of the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) for the Upper Canada District School Board. "The reason for the shortage that's coming - it's going to nail us pretty soon - is in the 1990s a lot of education dollars were directed towards computers, information technology - Silicone Valley. It became the popular field of work for students to go into."

He said at that time there should have been dollars for information technology and shop technology.

"It didn't happen. Some of our shops, the equipment was not updated and some of our technological education in our high schools suffered because of that. I think we're realizing, of course, there's a lot of (Baby) Boomers who are retiring and I think we're realizing the shortage of trades because of that," said MacDougall.

Addressing previous stigmas associated with blue collar work, MacDougall explained that people who work in the trades have technical abilities. Auto service technicians need to know how to use computers because the engines are all on modules. Heavy equipment operators who dig ditches use a GPS. Hairdressers work with chemicals every day.

The OYAP program is funded by the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities and gives students an opportunity to start an apprenticeship while they are still in high school. It is run in conjunction with co-operative education.

MacDougall said if a student is interested in pursuing an apprenticeship and a business is interested in the student, then the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities will come into the workplace and register the student. The student from then on would start working on their apprenticeship by accumulating hours and earning levels of competency at skills of the trade. They go to school for eight weeks and perform the practical part of it in college to obtain the skill sets.

There are currently 157 trades in the province that are available to train in the program - broken into four sectors: construction, industrial, motive and service sectors.

MacDougall said this program helps bridge the gap of students who do not go on to college or university after high school. "Remember that 30 per cent of our students do not go to university or college," he said. "I would encourage every student to go to college or university but we know the statistics tell us 30 per cent do not. So, if they are not going to go to college or university and they enter the world of work we really encourage them to do an apprenticeship in one of the 157 trades."

He provided a lucrative example. There is an auto dealership in Cornwall whose technicians come from the OYAP program. MacDougall stated the average salary of his technicians is $57,000 per year. "There are some really good wages and salaries to be made doing apprenticeships and becoming a certified and qualified tradesperson," said MacDougall.

Dan Lortie is the OYAP coordinator at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. "We've been hammering the point that the skilled trades are a good alternative to traditional post-secondary programs," said Lortie. "We've been pushing it quite heavily within co-op circles and our numbers are very strong already. A lot of the things we do is basically positive promotion of the skilled trades - encouraging students to consider a skilled trade, encouraging them to do co-op, obviously take tech courses in high school," said Lortie. He said the co-op teachers do a great job making that link between students and employment.

OYAP offers duo credit courses - which allow high school students the opportunity to take college courses. This provides students with a jump-start at their career. They can complete their Level One - their first year of their apprenticeship before completing Grade 12.

"That means that if they play their cards right, and everything falls into place, by the time they're 21 years old - or something like that - they could be fully licensed," explained Lortie. "This increases their earning power quite a bit. They'll be able to earn more money over an extended period of time than somebody who starts their apprenticeship at 27 years old."

Lortie said the apprenticeship benefits the student and employer. "The student benefits by getting real hands-on experience in the real world working with real people away from the school and that's where the school-of-real-life is there. It also helps the employer because it gives them a chance to scout, recruit potential new workers."

He said care is taken in working with employers to make sure to provide them with students who are a good mix. Lortie said they work with students regarding soft skills such as attitude because it is also important to be employable. He said employers do not mince words when they see what they want in an employee and what they find unacceptable.




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