Ontario Construction News staff writer
This year’s call for proposals under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy will provide over $25 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year for projects to support about 25,500 apprentices.
Unions representing Red Seal workers are eligible to apply.
New this year, organizations managing training trust funds for Red Seal workers, community colleges, technical institutions, and training providers that deliver technical training to apprentices as part of a curriculum for a Red Seal trade will also be able to apply.
Applications from unions will be given priority in the assessment process.
The deadline to apply for funding is Sept. 21 and selected projects must be designed to “improve the quality of training for apprentices through the purchase of equipment and materials and support the development of environmental skills in the Red Seal trades.
Each year, the Government of Canada commits 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.
The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum estimates that, from 2022 to 2026, over 122,000 new journeypersons will be required to sustain workforce certification across Red Seal trades in Canada. Of these, approximately 92,300 journeypersons will be concentrated in the top 15 national in-demand Red Seal trades, which include cook, industrial electrician, painter and decorator, and welder.
According to BuildForce Canada, the construction industry needs to recruit 299,200 new workers over the next decade by 2032, driven predominantly by the expected retirement of 245,100 workers (20% of the 2022 labour force).