Human Resources committee  In our apprenticeships we have a mix of company trained and using the ministry and the colleges to do the work. Very much so, our apprentices are going to college for their eight-week or ten-week in-school training and they're not getting their first cheque until they're back at work after the course.

Human Resources committee  Yes. People aren't being hired at those rates. We just did a round of hiring for power line apprentices at Hydro One, which the union was involved in. We had 2,700 applicants for 64 positions. It's a regular occurrence to get those kinds of applications. There just aren't enough entry-level jobs for those 2,700 people to get into the trades.

Human Resources committee  Yes. How do you train them?

Human Resources committee  In my experience, when we're talking about people applying for apprenticeship jobs, it's not necessarily that there aren't applicants. A lot of the time there aren't the jobs. The negative that comes back from the young people who want to get into apprenticeships and can't find work is where I think there is the biggest disconnect.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. In our industry, we find that women are extremely under-represented. They average about 25% of our workforce, but only about 5% of those are in trades occupations. Understanding and addressing the barriers to entering and staying in the industry is going to be a key focus for us in the future, especially as it relates to women in the workplace.