Human Resources committee  Absolutely. Thank you very much, and thank you for inviting us here today to talk about fixing the skills gap. I wanted to start by defining apprenticeship, because this is a term that is commonly used, and we find that apprenticeships and the apprenticeship system are not wel

Human Resources committee  That was the tax credit.

Human Resources committee  We have. The trades and apprenticeship program has a close relationship with the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. They present to each of our board meetings, and have certainly spoken to us, not in terms of cuts, but in terms of take-up and how to improve that. I know many of our b

Human Resources committee  I think it's been very effective in terms of raising the profile of the importance of apprenticeships, because anything that enables us to start to talk to employers and talk to apprentices about the perceived value I think is beneficial. Uptake has been a challenge. I think th

Human Resources committee  Okay. The agreement on internal trade has made mobility much easier once anybody is certified. Red Seal has always been recognized and has been advertised as something related to the labour mobility of a certified journey person. I think that's been helpful in the Red Seal trad

Human Resources committee  I would be in agreement with Jennifer on that. My thinking is that there has to be a better-managed school-to-work transition period. Certainly teachers can't be expected to understand a career path that they didn't take. So awareness is big with guidance counsellors and teacher

Human Resources committee  The EI is paid when somebody goes to technical training. They're eligible to receive employment insurance benefits. In their first year there's a two-week waiting period, the same as for anybody applying for employment insurance, and in subsequent years there's no waiting period.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. I'll just say that in terms of best practices, I've heard of many. There are programs in Nova Scotia. There's a women building futures program that is located in Edmonton. The YWCA also has some programs. I think the best practices we see are introducing women to th

Human Resources committee  An apprentice is an employee, so they have always worked ahead of time. They are eligible for EI. They're not considered a student; they're considered an employee. They're not eligible for student loans, but they are eligible for employment insurance. It's a little bit different

Human Resources committee  That's an interesting idea. What I hear more of is about trying to get employers to take up the top-up program. If they register, then they're allowed to top up their employees' salaries to 95% of their earnings. But employers aren't necessarily aware. As we talk about school-to-

Human Resources committee  Part of the what the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum has really been working on for the last four or five years has been primarily around employer engagement, trying to ensure the 50% of skilled trades employers who say they don't really know very much, know more—know that there ar

Human Resources committee  Because Alberta has had a need for such a long time, I think they're out in front in terms of thinking about that. They have bilateral agreements with British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador to facilitate the movement of apprentices.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. It tends to be the regulated trades like electricians, for example. They have the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that regulates the trade quite extensively. It's a safety-related issue as well. So certainly the electrician trade is out ahead in tryin

Human Resources committee  Completion is a complex issue. I think a lot of factors go into why someone would complete or not complete. The point is let's take down as many barriers as possible. If it's a barrier because you feel you can't go because it's a really busy time, and you don't want to ask your b

Human Resources committee  Thank you for your invitation to appear today on the subject of economic opportunities for young apprentices. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum has submitted a brief summarizing its thoughts about how the federal government might contribute to increasing completion and certificat