Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege?

This paper first reviews apprenticeship trends in Canada over the last two decades. It then examines prospects for labour market conditions for the total economy and for the construction sector to the year 2005 based on scenarios developed by the forecasting firm Informetrica for the IAS committees examining labour market trends in the construction trades. The paper finds that the apprenticeship system has a number of serious weaknesses. The trends described in this paper raise serious questions about the ability of the apprenticeship system in Canada to produce an adequate supply of qualified workers for the economy. As suggested by the title of this paper, the apprenticeship system may be under siege. If external pressure on the apprenticeship system to reform ?arising from a tight labour market ?continues to be weak, the impetus to reform the apprenticeship system must come from inside the system. Attention should focus on the reasons why Canada’s apprenticeship system appears unable to have its apprentices complete their programs in a timely manner, if at all; why the apprenticeship system has not expanded outside traditional occupations; and why women are not attracted to apprenticeship programs.