July 2, 2008

Skills Training

Apprentice stream still mostly male, says National Apprenticeship Survey

‘Rich basis’ of research data

SHANNON MONEO

correspondent

Victoria

The 2007 National Apprenticeship Survey results were rolled out recently for more than 500 people attending the Canadian Apprentice Forum 2008 Conference in Victoria.

Roughly 30,000 Canadians learning a trade participated in the joint Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) and Statistics Canada project.

The survey reconfirmed what’s been usually evident at construction sites. Most of those mastering a trade are male Canadians, aged 25-39, pursuing a Red Seal career.

“This survey is a very rich basis of data,” said Kevin Evans, of B.C’s Industry Training Authority.

The extensive results will allow industry-players to deliver “evidence-based decision-making,” he added.

The snapshot taken by the survey was captured over 2007.

The survey broke respondents into three groups based on their apprenticeship training status in 2002-04, said Marinka Menard of Statistics Canada: long-term continuers; completers and discontinuers.

In the first five months of 2007, 67,000 surveys were distributed.

About 30,000 responded, with 55 per cent of the long-term continuers responding, 65 per cent of the completers answering and 35 per cent of the discontinuers taking part.

It was only the third time such a survey has been done in Canada, following a 1989-90 survey of 10,000 people and a second go-round with 14,000 respondents in 1994-1995 when the Canadian economy was in the doldrums.

While about 90 per cent of the respondents were male, about 10 per cent of the respondents were female, five per cent were aboriginal, roughly seven per cent were visible minorities and about five per cent were landed immigrants.

When it came to their in-school training, equipment and technology, 31 per cent rated it excellent, 49 per cent as good, 14 per cent as fair and six per cent as poor.

One response meriting further investigation, Nugent said, was the 14 per cent who agreed or strongly agreed that their training was too difficult or technical.

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