Canadian Apprenticeship Forum releases trade-specific analysis of demand for apprentices

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA) has released its latest labour market information report, Apprentice Demand in Red Seal Trades, which draws together apprenticeship trends data and projections to provide a forward-looking assessment of the country’s demand and supply for trade certifications.

This unique CAF-FCA analysis takes into consideration key apprenticeship system characteristics including sensitivity to economic cycles and completion rates. The demand projections go beyond the skilled trades and includes other related occupations such as supervisor, project manager and safety officer, thereby providing a more comprehensive outlook of the demand for journeypersons in the Canadian labour market.

Over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025, an estimated 163,785 new journeypersons will be required to sustain workforce certification levels across 56 Red Seal trades in Canada. Canada will need a total of 375,026 apprentices to meet the anticipated demand.

“Offering meaningful training opportunities to apprentices and helping them complete is vital to meeting the anticipated demand. By encouraging employers to hire apprentices and apply training best practices, we can ensure the skilled trades workforce is ready to fill the gaps created by retiring journeypersons,” said France Daviault, CAF-FCA executive director.