The federal government estimates Canada will need 1.4 million new trades workers by 2033 to replace retiring workers and meet project demand.
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Apprenticeship enrolments hit a record high of more than 101,500 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, but completions of these programs have remained below prepandemic levels. Almost 47,000 apprentices received certification that year, or a rate of 19.9 per cent. In comparison, a decade prior, 93,500 Canadians enrolled in a skilled trade and 59,400 received their certifications.
I feel like there is a generally fraying at the edges, or being stretched thin, that everyone alive is experiencing in addition to all the factors others have listed.
One trade-specific thing I have heard is that fellow workers on a crew can also put pressure on apprentices not to go back to school and ‘leave them shorthanded’. Knock on effects from shitty employers.
I don’t know if it would be viable, or if it already exists, but I would like it to have several routes to journeyman status whether those are more education oriented or more work oriented. I would be more inclined to go if it was setup more like a university degree co-op program - 5 years with an established work-term schedule and with program assistance for placements.