Whether changing a tire with the help of an air wrench or making sparks in a welding booth, thousands of students got hands-on at the Skills Canada National Competition — some call it the “Olympics of the skilled trades” — in Toronto this week.

Scores of students tried activities, played games, queried tradespeople and watched older teens and young adults compete in dozens of skilled trades and tech events, from cabinet building to hairstyling.

Intensely focused and dialed in, the young competitors — each already a winner in their home province or territory — were excited to showcase their skills and brimming with optimism about their futures.

“Without the trades, then we won’t have houses. We won’t have the buildings. We won’t have these lights,” said Jorja Hanson-Lemaigre, a 16-year-old electrical installation competitor from Prince Albert, Sask.

“Trades is what keeps the world going.”

There’s been a definite uptick of interest in the sector amid rising new apprentice registrations and a wave of government funding to recruit more tradespeople and improve their paths in the skilled trades.

Yet the journey isn’t always straightforward. Apprenticeship experts buoyed by the current spotlight say they’re looking for sound decision-making to turn youthful curiosity into rewarding careers.

How apprenticeship works

Canada has more than 300 designated skilled trades generally grouped into four sectors: construction, transportation, services, and manufacturing and industrial. Of the total, 54 are specifically designed Red Seal, a credential that carries specific regulations and standards.

You don’t need certification to practise every trade, but the federal government has said Canada needs more than a quarter million new Red Seal journeypersons (certified tradespeople) in the next decade.

Apprenticeship is a work-based training process to become a journeyperson that might last between two and five years, depending on the trade and region.

Apprentices rise through different levels; how many also depends on the trade. They must register with an employer, log a pre-set number of working hours while supervised by an experienced journeyperson and attend periodic blocks of in-class training. At the end comes a final certification exam.

While apprentices are working and earning money throughout, that final certification is important both for their own career potential and the sector overall, said Michelle Bussey, CEO of the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency, who was in Toronto for the Skills Canada competition.

“We need more certified people to be able to train the next generation of apprentices as well,” she said, noting many obstacles can make the apprenticeship path bumpier.

Major barriers for apprentices

Stigma continues to persist about skilled trades, youth in the sector say.

“We aren’t putting, like, 50-pound plus objects on our backs anymore…. Technology and the tools have evolved,” said Gabriele Larocque, a Level 2 millwright apprentice from Timmins, Ont., who left university studies after an engaging summer job introduced her to the trades.

“We’re not at the same place that tradespeople were.”

People have to get over thinking about trades education as less than university, said Jacob Murphy, a Skills Canada competition alumni from Melfort, Sask., who now works as a technologist in industrial engineering.

“There’s a perception that if you go to university and you get a degree, then there’s just a job out there [for you]. And that’s not always the case,” he said.

Across Canada’s trades, roughly 50 per cent of those starting apprenticeships actually finish them, said Canadian Apprenticeship Forum CEO France Daviault, whose non-profit advocacy group consults with governments and other stakeholders on apprenticeship policy.

Daviault said there are two major barriers: finding employers willing to sign on entry-level apprentices, since many can be reticent to do so, and apprentices juggling financial concerns.

You take “a drastic salary cut” when you have to leave your paid job for eight weeks of mandatory in-class training and rely just on employment insurance during that time, she said. “On top of that, there’s maybe tuition and maybe travel to the location” to consider as well.

During busy stretches, employers may also discourage staffers from taking time off for those training blocks.

New money to break down roadblocks

In recent years, provincial efforts to boost trades recruitment have included dual credit or required courses for high schoolers. More recently, provinces have pledged more money for training in colleges and by unions.

This spring, the federal government announced a $6-billion investment, including financial incentives for employers hiring Level 1 apprentices, $400-a-week grants to apprentices during in-class training periods and a $5,000 completion bonus for achieving Red Seal certification.

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Federal funding will also go toward modernizing the Red Seal program and expanding and upgrading union-run training centres.

“It’s a really good start,” Daviault said.

She said she’s thrilled about the federal certification grant, entry-level hiring incentive and the “game-changer” training period top-up. “This is a glimpse that the government is ready to maybe do things differently.”

Co-ordination, accountability needed

Yet while she’s optimistic about the details so far and what’s being hashed out during stakeholder meetings with federal officials, Daviault said she wants better co-ordination between ministries and jurisdictions.

“There are a lot of stakeholders involved that need to get on board…. The provinces, the territories, the educational systems, everyone needs to come to the table,” she said.

“You don’t want programs that are disjointed, that don’t talk to each other. We want an apprenticeship system in Canada that is modernized but that everyone is part of the one big picture.”

Setting clear benchmarks for success and keeping funding recipients accountable are key, said Mike Gordon, director of Canadian training for UA, a North American union that represents plumbers, welders, and HVAC technicians, among other tradespeople.

It’s not helpful to fund programs that don’t land young people a work placement or apprenticeship, he said.

“There needs to be a direct connection with employment — and not just employment that’s temporary,” added Gordon, who also supports tracking trainees from the pre-apprentice program stage on through apprenticeship and certification to better gauge success.

Amid intense demand to rapidly boost the trade workforce, Gordon said he’s wary of anything that might erode journeyperson training.

“We need to learn from some of the past mistakes that’ve happened in some jurisdictions across the country where they shortened the timeline for apprentices…. It doesn’t support successful outcomes,” he said.

“Let’s keep the bar high. Canada is well recognized as having some of the best tradespeople in the entire world. We shouldn’t be lowering our standards.”