Question Period Note: CANADIAN APPRENTICESHIP STRATEGY

What is the Government of Canada doing to support skilled trades unions?

Our Government invests nearly one billion annually in supports for apprentices, tradespeople, employers and unions.

Through the new Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy, we have doubled funding for the Union Training and Innovation Program.

We are also advancing a new Union Training and Innovation Program sustainable jobs stream to support the development of green skills training for up to 20,000 skilled trades workers.

These investments aim to ensure that Canada has the skilled workforce required to drive economic growth.

If Pressed on supports for unions

Our Government understands the important role of unions in providing support and training opportunities for apprentices in Red Seal trades.

Our Government also understands that Canada needs a highly skilled, inclusive, certified and productive trades workforce in order to seize new economic opportunities in the clean economy.

That is why our Government is taking decisive action and investing in Canada’s skilled trades workforce. For example, in August 2023, we launched a call for proposals to invest $25 million in apprenticeship training in the Red Seal trades to ensure Canadians develop the skills they need to get indemand good paying jobs. Union applications will be given priority.

The Government recently launched a Call for Proposals (on August 11, 2023) under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy to fund projects that aim to improve the quality of training through investments in training equipment and materials for apprentices in Red Seal trades. This latest Call for Proposals will provide $25.0 million in funding in 2023-2024 to unions—as well as organizations managing training trust funds for unions representing workers in the Red Seal trades, and training providers—in order to purchase equipment and materials that will ultimately support approximately 25,000 apprentices in Red Seal trades over three years.

The 2022 Fall Economic Statement announced a new sustainable jobs stream under the Union Training and Innovation Program. Funded projects through this stream will support unions in leading the development of green skills training for workers in the trades. It is expected that 20,000 apprentices and journeypersons would benefit from this investment.

Budget 2022 committed to providing $84.2 million over four years to double funding for the Union Training and Innovation Program. Each year, the new funding will help 3,500 apprentices from equity-deserving groups begin and succeed in careers in the skilled trades through mentorship, career services, and job-matching.

The program currently provides $25 million annually to support union-based apprenticeship training, innovation and enhanced partnerships in the Red Seal trades through two streams of funding:

Stream 1 (Investments in Training Equipment) provides unions with up to 50% of the costs of new, up-to-date equipment and materials that meet industry standards or investments in technology in the Red Seal trades.

Stream 2 (Innovation in Apprenticeship) provides support for innovative approaches and enhanced partnerships to address long-standing challenges limiting apprenticeship outcomes.

For both streams, priority is given to projects that target the participation and success of equity-deserving groups (e.g., women, Indigenous people, racialized communities, persons with disabilities, and newcomers); and involve partnerships with employers, community and non-profit groups, training providers, provinces and territories, Indigenous communities, and colleges.

In 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, 148 UTIP Stream 1 and 2 projects were approved for funding, valued at $132.9 million.

Under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy - an overarching framework under which existing apprenticeship initiatives (including the UTIP) are delivered - a national Call for Proposals for UTIP Stream 1 (Investments in Training Equipment) was launched on August 31, 2022 and closed on October 12, 2022. Funded projects began in Q4 of fiscal year 2022-2023. A national Call for proposals for UTIP Stream 2 (Innovation in Apprenticeship) was launched on October 12, 2022, and closed on December 1, 2022. Funded projects began in Q2 of 2023-2024.

Quebec organizations are not eligible to apply for funding through the UTIP. This is because unions in the province are not directly involved in apprenticeship training. In Quebec, in-school training is undertaken in the public school system prior to an individual registering with an employer as an apprentice. To account for this, UTIP is implemented in Quebec through a separate contribution agreement with the provincial government.

Unions serve as a primary delivery agent of training of apprentices and offer access to equipment and training centres that enable apprentices to access hands on learning opportunities to practice their skills prior to working on site. An estimated one in three workers in Red Seal trades (33%) is a union member.

“Canada’s workforce needs more skilled trade workers. Demographic shifts and high retirement rates are fueling demand and an ever-growing need to recruit and train thousands more Canadians in the skilled trades. That’s why the Government of Canada is investing nearly $1 billion in apprenticeship supports through grants, loans, tax credits, Employment Insurance benefits during in-school training, project funding, and support for the Red Seal program.”

Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages

“UTIP has provided much-needed equipment to its trainers, which has allowed them to deliver training in emerging technologies and increase participation in the trades from traditionally underrepresented groups.”

Brynn Bourke, Executive Director, BC Building Trades