Thank you for the question.
Red Seal endorsements are granted to designated professions in all provinces and territories. There are 54 Red Seal designations. They range from construction occupations to automotive, aviation and other transportation technician occupations.
There are other Red Seals as well. There are a number of Red Seals that are very specific in terms of technical trades. These are all occupations that are agreed upon by provinces and territories, and they allow for the designate to have better labour mobility across provincial territories, as those Red Seals are recognized by each other's provinces as being proficient.
For example, if you're a heavy equipment operator or a crane operator in Ontario and you have your Red Seal designation, you can also work in Quebec, Alberta or Manitoba. Your designation declares that you are a professional in that area.
They are complex positions. They often take three to five years to complete. It's a combination of in-class study and hours that you achieve on the work site with a designated journeyperson, who supervises you and teaches you increasingly complex skills. That's what a Red Seal professional is.
Thank you for the question. Many people don't know that, and it's an important question. You can see all the designated Red Seals online at the Government of Canada website.
In reference to your first question, it's difficult to project which jobs are going to be fully displaced and which jobs are going to be changed. There are a bunch of different conjectures out there in terms of what is happening. Regardless, what we're seeing is that every job is seeing some introduction of the use of artificial intelligence and technological skills, even in the Red Seals.
I'll give you an example. In days gone by, a crane operator would have to manually calculate his load and then manually figure out how to lift that load, using complex skills way beyond my ability. Now much of the equipment that construction workers might use as heavy equipment operators has an element of automation and an element of computation that's happening on a computer within that particular machinery. Does that mean that the individual is not needed? No, it does not, but it does mean that the job is changing and that the skills that person is training for are changing. We're seeing that across a number of different sectors.
The last thing I'll say is that this is why our programs, especially around skilled work placements for young people whose course of study is matched with a paid work experience, are so valuable. It's because employers say that they give them an opportunity to train for what they need at the moment, and this is often way ahead of what the curriculum says. In fact, young people will say that they sometimes go back to the classroom and say, “That's not quite how it's happening in real life”, so it provides a good feedback loop for trainers as well.
Thank you for the question.