Human Resources committee  I'll make a comment. I think an additional problem is that when we talk about skills shortages, a lot of employers would really prefer having a certified journeyperson rather than an apprentice. That's where I think it is important to still be reaching out to employers. We've

Human Resources committee  I would say that certainly is an issue. We hear about issues with EI regularly. We recognize that these are people who have other responsibilities in terms of family and mortgages and car payments to make, and they certainly can't afford not to be able to access employment insura

Human Resources committee  We've asked apprenticeship stakeholders across the country, and that includes the jurisdictions, employers, educational institutions, unions, equity representatives and organizations, to help us continue, by providing membership dollars. It's a significant challenge for us becaus

Human Resources committee  Yes. That's true.

Human Resources committee  Yes. Apprentices tend to complete their apprenticeship when they've completed high school, so we have to continue to engage hands-on learners. In many cases, entry into an apprenticeship requires a grade 12 education. That hasn't been the case in every trade in every jurisdictio

Human Resources committee  I wouldn't be able to point to a study or research that would validate that. We do see that employers prefer to hire a new apprentice when they have had some kind of pre-employment or pre-apprenticeship program. There is some degree of understanding that the apprentice has alread

Human Resources committee  The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum was funded through the federal sector council program, which is being wound down as of the end of this fiscal year, March 2013. We'll lose our operational funding at that time.

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

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  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  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  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  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.