Ottawa provincial candidates urged to endorse proposal to produce more apprentices

Posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2018

(OTTAWA, May 16, 2018) – Candidates in the 2018 provincial election are urged to support measures to produce more apprentices by expanding the Ontario colleges’ province-wide application service to include apprenticeship applications.

“As a province, we need to make it easier for students to enroll in apprenticeships,” said Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen. “Our proposal to boost apprenticeship enrolment will help Ontario meet increasing demand for workers in the skilled trades. We urge Ottawa candidates to endorse this proposal to help more learners – at Algonquin and across the province – get the professional and technical training required to launch dynamic careers.”

Currently, there is no clear entry route into apprenticeship programs. Students have to find an employer willing to hire and train them. Across Ontario, any people don’t have the connections or the resources to make that connection.

Enrolling as an apprentice should not be so complicated. The process for applying to be an apprentice should be as easy as applying to college and university.

The most effective way to establish a one-window application process for apprentices is to expand the application service that already exists for college applications. The college system’s application website, www.ontariocolleges.ca, gets more than 3.5 million hits each year and more than 200,000 applications are processed annually for full-time college students. Applications are processed quickly and effectively, and the confidentiality of each application is protected.

Expanding the college service to include apprentices would allow students to submit applications before they have secured a willing employer. Ontario colleges like Algonquin – which currently deliver 85 per cent of the in-class training for apprenticeships – could use their strong connections to match students with employers.

Colleges Ontario is also asking candidates to endorse a recommendation to give colleges more flexibility to determine where to best invest apprenticeship dollars to meet the needs of their local communities. This would avoid the current situation where some colleges can find they don’t have enough spots for some apprentices and too many spots for others, based on decisions that were made by government.

It is essential that Ontario produce more apprentices as growing numbers of employers are struggling to find qualified people. Last year, the Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance said 41 per cent of employers it surveyed would hire more employees if they could find people with the right skills.

You can find more about Algonquin’s apprenticeships here. In 2017, the Ontario College of Trades, a professional body that regulates and promotes the skilled trades, presented Algonquin’s apprenticeship program with the Chair’s Award of Excellence, which honours individuals or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to skilled trades and apprenticeship training.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Ruth Dunley
Communications Manager
Algonquin College
613-727-4723 ext. 6452
613-406-0970
dunleyr@algonquincollege.com

Chris Lackner
Communications Officer
Algonquin College
613-727-4723 ext. 2091
lacknec@algonquincollege.com


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