More Canadians Enrolling in Post-Secondary Education-More Needed in the Skilled Trades
Posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2017
As a nation, Canada is one of the most educated populations in the world. New national census data indicates that more than half (54%) of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 had either college or university qualifications in 2016, an increase from 48.3% from a decade earlier.
It’s a trend that Canada can be proud of, but it also sends a message to young people about the importance of continuing on to higher education. The labour market is demanding it with almost all new jobs being created requiring a post-secondary credential.
A deeper look at the statistics shows that more young men are turning to the skilled trades for their career pathway. That’s encouraging because here in Renfrew County several manufacturers recently participated in a forum to work on community strategies that can help them address some of the challenges they are experiencing in attracting skilled workers. The data says that the proportion of young men who had earned an apprenticeship certificate in Canada increased from 4.9% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2016, but locally there are still more jobs than people to fill them in some trades areas.
Of course, there is plenty of room for women in the trades and initiatives to encourage women to take the pathway as well, but one of the more concerning statistics is that men are not enrolling in post-secondary education at the same rate as women. For the trades, which traditionally have attracted more men than women, that’s a call for action.
At Algonquin College’s Waterfront Campus in Pembroke, there are some initiatives underway to help fill these labour market gaps. The Options Skilled Trades Fair has been offered to local high school students for the past 15 years as a grassroots effort to educate high school students on the career opportunities that are available through apprenticeship training. It has been very successful and there are plenty of stories of these students going on to trades school and becoming apprentices.
Our Campus offers full-time programs in Construction Techniques and Motive Power Technician, two important industries in the local labour market. The College also offers various pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs such as General Carpenter and welcomes feedback from local industry on their needs. In order to offer a program, a critical mass of students is required, and through partnerships with local companies, the potential is there to expand programming if a concerted community effort is made to promote the jobs that are currently difficult to fill. If that message gets out, more male and female students will be interested in enrolling in a program that can help them achieve their goal to work in the skilled trades.
Our country is getting older. The national average age has been creeping up for several years. Here in Renfrew County, the average age is over 45 years old. That statistic alone is enough evidence that we need more young people to fill the jobs that are being vacated in our workforce. Let’s start by getting more youth engaged in the skilled trades.
Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs
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