Executive Summary

Apprenticeship training must be accessible to all.  Education training initiatives and opportunities must be expanded to ensure that current and future employers recognize female, aboriginal, visible minority people, young workers and persons with disabilities as potential apprentices. A provincial training levy for employers must be established that provides training that will include access to all training including literacy, essential skills, second language upgrading and apprenticeship training for all workers.

The Apprenticeship Certification Act (ACA) has split the apprenticeship system in Ontario into two.  The industrial, public and service industry trades are now under its jurisdiction. The construction trades were left under the old Trades Qualification and Apprenticeship Act (TQAA). To date, some of the new construction trades are being put under the ACA. The system has been deregulated. It has shifted the focus from apprenticeship as an employment relationship to apprenticeship as a short-term education and training relationship. 

It removed the enforcement of regulatory provisions governing ratios wage rates, removed entry levels and duration of training from the legislation.

It is apparent to the labour movement that deals with apprenticeship training on a regular basis that skill sets must not replace “whole” trades.  We realize there must be flexibility to recognize genuine new trades as technologies change but it cannot be an excuse to fragment existing trades into partial components or skill sets which are then treated as new trades in themselves. 

The ACA redefines the work of specific trades to that of simple skill sets. This results in an increase in multi-crafting and multi-skilling. It results in the further fragmentation and de-skilling of existing certified trades.  This splintering of the trades compromises the health and safety of workers, consumer safety and environmental protection.  It leads to a generation of workers who lack an understanding of their complete trade, and causes an overall de-skilling of Ontario’s workforce. This dismantling of the trades also cuts the economic benefits for all workers.

Apprenticeship standards are set across the country through the Red Seal Program.  This was established to provide greater mobility across Canada for skilled workers. By successfully completing an Inter-provincial Standards Examination, they can obtain a “Red Seal” endorsement on their Certificates of Qualification and Apprenticeship. The program is intended to encourage standardization of provincial and territorial apprenticeship training and certification programs. 

The “Red Seal” allows qualified tradespersons to practice the trade in any province or territory in Canada where the trade is designated without having to write further examinations.  To date, there are 45 trades included in the Red Seal Program on a national basis.  The Red Seal Program also gives workers the ability to earn a decent wage and contribute fully to Canadian society. The program is intended to encourage standardization of provincial and territorial apprenticeship training and certification programs.  The “Red Seal” allows qualified tradespersons to practice the trade in any province or territory in Canada where the trade is designated without having to write further examinations. 

Compulsory Certification of all trades is absolutely essential to ensure a competitive, adaptable and productive workforce, quality craftspersons and a safer work environment for all trades as well as the general public. For example, the construction industry is continually faced with the affects of the underground economy. Several trades including general carpentry are voluntary. This means anyone can say that they are a carpenter.

Full support from the whole labour movement is needed to address the crisis the apprenticeship system is facing in Ontario.

Action Plan:

1. Lobby the government through an OFL Campaign to return to one Trades Qualification Act and repeal the ACA.
2. Lobby for Compulsory Certification for all trades after re-establishing the “whole” trades.
3. Lobby for provincial funding for apprenticeship training to be increased for both the trades training centres and the community colleges.
4. Lobby for a training levy to be established in Ontario. In 2006, the OFL set up a meeting of unions and employers to develop a framework for lobbying the government to begin discussion on the implementation of a training levy in Ontario.
5. Lobby for an increase in the number of opportunities for Ontarians, particularly from the equity seeking groups, to become apprentices in whole trades under the enactment of a Fair Wage Policy in all cities and towns in Ontario.
6. Lobby for fully funded and fully staffed shop classes in Ontario’s K-12 public education system.