Canadian Apprenticeship Forum – Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage

Apprenticeship is the Future Conference Concurrent Session Report and Executive Summary Vancouver, British Columbia June 3–4, 2002

Human Resources Development Canada

Développement des ressources humaines Canada

Table of Contents

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii The Practical Assessment of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition to Boilermakers . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Construction Labour Market Information System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Improving Accountability: Manitoba’s Apprentice Portfolio and Instructor’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Changes in Skill Training and Recognition in Québec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 If Apprenticeship is the Future, Why Do We …? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Pilot Study on the Effective Use of Apprentices in the Industrial Construction Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 You Can Get There From Here: Accessing Formal Academic Education Using Prior Learning Assessment (PLAR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Co-operative Development of Apprenticeship Training Standards in Atlantic Canada: Best Practices . 30 Increasing the Success Rate of the In-School Component of the Apprenticeship Training Plan . . . . . 34 Economic Development in a Rural Region through Innovative Apprenticeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Careers: The Next Generation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Career Technical Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Diversified Human Capital: Return on Inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Skills Shortages and Apprenticeship Training in the Manufacturing and Construction Sectors: Research Findings from the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 12 Success Factors—The Career Resource Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 A Review of National Standards and the Labour Market, with particular focus on establishing National Standards for Operating Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Finding the Right Assessment Tools—TOWES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Individual Learning Modules: A Collaborative Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 B.C.’s New Approach to industry Training and Apprenticeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Mentor-Coach: A Look at Improving the On-the-Job Training Portion of the Apprenticeship Training Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Distance Delivery of Various Apprenticeship Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Women’s Participation in Apprenticeable Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Trade Up! CD-ROM Marketing Project: Selling Careers in Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

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Executive Summary

Introduction—The Future of Apprenticeship The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum – Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF-FCA) is a multi-partite organization including representatives of business, labour, the Inter-Provincial Alliance of Apprenticeship Board Chairs (IPA), educators, persons with disabilities, women, members of visible minorities, aboriginal persons, the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). CAF-FCA’s objectives are to promote apprenticeship as an effective training and education system that contributes to the development of a skilled labour force and to provide a mechanism for the key stakeholders to support the apprenticeship delivery systems across Canada. “Knowledge Matters”, the HRDC component of Canada’s Innovation Strategy emphasizes the notion that people are a country’s greatest resource in today’s economy. The reality is that a move to a knowledge-based economy means an increasing demand for a well-educated and skilled workforce in all parts of the economy and country. Apprenticeship and skilled trades are a vital link in meeting this demand, and in the future health of the Canadian economy. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum – Forum canadien sur l’apprenticessage hosted its first pan-Canadian Conference “Apprenticeship is the Future” June, 2–4, 2002. The conference, held in Richmond, British Columbia saw over 400 delegates in attendance. There was strong support from the Apprenticeship community and delegates took advantage of the opportunity to network and share ideas and strategies. Throughout the 21/2 day event, presenters showcased ideas and strategies in support of apprenticeship now, and in the future. This document provides a summary reporting of the 24 concurrent sessions delivered throughout the conference. The conference program was intended to share, showcase and discuss strategies/activities various segments of the apprenticeship community are implementing to address regional or national priorities within a specific sector or trade. The broader themes and priorities discussed at the conference are highlighted within the Executive Summary; the more detailed Report highlighting the information presented in each particular session is also included in the main body of the document. The information presented in this document reflects the opinion of the individual presenters and are not necessarily the opinions of CAF-FCA. The presentations provided a “snapshot” of new or innovative approaches that have been implemented in sections of the apprenticeship community in response to key challenges and emerging issues. An open Call for Presentations, distributed widely among apprenticeship stakeholders, was used to elicit the material presented during the conference.

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Building a World Class Workforce Ways and means of encouraging apprentices to enter and remain in the skilled trades was the focus of many of the presentations and discussions throughout the conference. Issues discussed ranged from focusing on the positive image of trades to a need for enhanced support for apprentices/journeypersons and employers once they are in an apprenticeship system. Ideas showcased in support of addressing some of these concerns included: • Promotional activities aimed at improving the image of skilled trade occupations. • Mentoring programs. • Essential Skills applications • Development of a business case that demonstrates the inherent “low-cost” of apprenticeship training and “high rate of return” • Alternative forms of delivery of Apprenticeship programs. In addition, emphasis was placed on a number of other areas and themes including: Life Long Learning and a Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition System Providing opportunities for all Canadians to learn and develop their skills and abilities will enable Canada to maintain economic prosperity. Adult learners are a significant pool to draw from, as employers continue to feel the twin pulls of labour

supply and demand. A Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) system is one that analyzes and rates the prior experience of individuals so potential workers would receive credit for skills and experience already obtained/learned. This system continues to play an important role in apprenticeship training and its application in several trade areas was featured at the conference. Good Data and Effective Projects Examining the effective use of resources to meet skills development needs of Canadians in the evolving labour market is a significant priority. Industry needs fluctuate from region to region, trade to trade and sector to sector. The conference provided delegates the opportunity to share ways in which organizations are looking at resources— including up-to-date labour market information and forecasting. Access to Apprenticeship for All Canadians Under-represented groups including women, aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities, have historically held low participation rates in apprenticeship. Presentations at the conference explored this issue and provided insight into increasing participation for members of under-represented groups. The conference featured activities aimed at addressing the overall participation rate of all Canadians in apprenticeship, with significant emphasis on those that are under-represented.

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Successful Integration of Apprentices in the Workforce Workers in the skilled trades are essential to building and maintaining Canada’s place in the 21st century. The conference program explored ways and means of encouraging more Canadians to consider skilled trades as a career choice—and, once engaged, to remain working in the skilled trades. Labour Mobility The Canadian labour market is not uniform; while skilled labour shortages exist in some areas, there are pockets of workers who cannot find jobs. Mobility between provinces is therefore a key consideration when addressing the need for skill labour in the work force. The apprenticeship community has been involved for many years in establishing a variety of strategies to aid in employment mobility between provinces and territories. National standards for training curriculum and occupations allows workers from one part of Canada to relocate with the assurance that their skills would be recognized and applicable. The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) is facilitating inter-provincial mobility through the development and implementation of the Interprovincial Standards (Red Seal) program.

Conclusion “Apprenticeship is the Future” showcased many innovative approaches including: • interprovincial labour mobility, and promoting the development of practices which allow all Canadians to use their labour market skills; • life-long learning and skills development, to enable full labour force participation in Canada’s ever changing economy; • work to meet the increasing skill requirements of the knowledge-based economy; • the transition of young Canadians from school to the labour force. The importance of skilled workers to the knowledge economy has been acknowledged by all levels of the apprenticeship community. “Apprenticeship is the Future” provided an excellent opportunity to examine key activities and initiatives that will support and enhance apprenticeship as Canada moves to respond to the challenges of a knowledgebased economy.

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The Practical Assessment of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition to Boilermakers Bruce Ashton, Boilermaker National Training Trust Fund (BNTTF) Bruce Ashton, who was the co-author of IPT’s Metal Trades Handbook, opened his presentation with a slide show illustrating the kind of work performed by boilermakers. In general, they work on heavy industrial construction and maintenance projects which occur across Canada, (including nuclear power). They often work in operating plants, making their job potentially dangerous. Sixty per cent of a boilermaker’s working hours are spent on maintenance and repair. They often work in confined spaces and at extreme heights. A labour market study, completed in 1988, indicated that the majority of journeyperson boilermakers are now nearing retirement. The BNTTF wanted a way to fast-track younger people into boilermaking. Another review of contractor needs around the same time indicated that most contractors were large international companies, and that a majority anticipated an increased need for boilermakers between 1996 and 2005. Indeed, an “explosion of growth” has occurred. The number of hours worked by Canadian boilermakers increased from 6 million in 1998 to just under 8 million in 2001. “In a short period of time, we added one-third the amount of hours … It has been difficult. We are working older tradespersons longer.” To meet this demand and counter workforce shrinkage due to retirement, the BNTTF looked at strategies to bring younger

people into the trade. “We are not importing tradespeople any more, we are exporting them,” he said, to the United States, Eastern Europe and Asia. One source of new workers would be those with experience in other occupations. In order to save these new recruits going through an entire apprenticeship program, a system to analyze and rate their prior experience looks increasingly important. Such systems are known as Prior Learning Assessment and Review (PLAR). As Mr. Ashton said, “We are wasting hard-earned time and money by putting someone through a full three-year apprenticeship and not looking at what they have done in the past.” Since the average age of first-year apprentices in Canada is around 26, these young people clearly have prior work experience for which they should receive credit. One of the most mobile trades in Canada, the boilermakers already developed a common core curriculum for apprentices across Canada. Now, the BNTTF has approached Human Resources Development Canada to look at developing a PLAR system. The PLAR process was not initially designed with a trades setting in mind. However, the BNTTF hired Rosemary Sparks of RJ Sparks Consulting Inc. to adapt PLAR to rate and review the knowledge and experience of people interested in boilermaking. Some of the challenges faced have included: • accommodating personal suitability • crediting past learning when theory and handson training are integrated • applying PLAR consistently across the entire trade and the entire country

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• relying on documented proof of past learning and/or experience in an environment in which the ability to perform a task is as critical as the knowledge • assessing the impact of PLAR on the trade’s age profile Three key roles in the PLAR process are an advisor, an assessor and a national body. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, the advisor and assessor cannot be the same person. Highlighted below are examples of candidates who will be assessed: • An immigrant to Canada who completed his apprenticeship in Germany and worked there for three years. The candidate will write the journeyman examination, but will not have to take any practical exams. • A young man who completed Grade 9, but lacks the academic entry requirements for an apprenticeship (Grade 10 Math and English). He took Math and English at night school. After his teacher verifies in writing that the night-school courses are equivalent to Grade 10 Math and English, the candidate will be permitted to enter the apprenticeship program. • A young man who has worked in his father’s shop for several years but lacks the academic entry requirements. His practical experience will be credited against on-the-job training requirements.

• A young woman who completed the first year of her pipefitting apprenticeship and now wishes to switch to boilermaking. She will be exempted from in-school training, but not on-the-job training. • An apprentice boilermaker from Nova Scotia who wants to move to Alberta. Thanks to the common core curriculum, the apprentice will be able to get credit for his Nova Scotia studies and pick up where he left off in Alberta. • A young woman with an engineering degree and at least a year of work experience wants to enter the apprenticeship program. She will be exempted from a portion of the in-school training, but not from the on-the-job training. Mr. Ashton stressed that a PLAR system must be relevant and accessible. “If it isn’t, we might as well leave it the way it is.” In addition, the system must be applicable to jurisdictions across Canada. “We can’t afford to develop 12 different programs. Economy of scale demands that our small trade develop one program. If this can’t be done, we probably are not going to go ahead.” The BNTTF is now writing a policy manual. Although a standard model is not yet in place, the organization is doing some PLAR work. The next step, about 12 months away, is to consult with boilermaker union locals across Canada. The BNTTF would like to see a consistent approach to PLAR across Canada and foresees a national training office set up to administer PLAR at the local level. “It’s not that we don’t have the infrastructure to do the work. The question is, can we implement it or not?”

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Reluctant to develop another layer of bureaucracy in their organization, the boilermakers must come to grips with the complex nature of the PLAR system, Ashton said. They also need to set up an appeal board. “We are still wrestling with this notion, and with who would be on such a board.” How would the PLAR system be paid for? Mr. Ashton said the union now receives 50 cents for each hour worked for training and apprenticeship programs, and these funds should be sufficient. The BNTTF wants to proceed slowly and production and distribution of a manual that includes case studies is essential. No targets have yet been set as to how many new boilermakers should be recruited with PLAR. An assessor would either by employed by the industry or be a consultant employed by the industry. Could other unions use the boilermakers’ common core curriculum for apprentices as a model? Mr. Ashton said that other unions who wish to put in place this kind of curriculum should avoid a “module” style, which is very hard to update and takes initiative away from instructors. He advised that an instructor guide should be developed instead.

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The Construction Labour Market Information System

from both sectors are heads of their fields because, “If you want to be where the rubber hits the road, you need commitment at the highest level.”

Paul Stoll, Human Resources Development Canada

Key goals of the CSC over the next five years include the promotion of apprenticeship training and delivery, advancing career and workforce training, expanding partnerships with national and provincial groups, improving the recruitment and retention of youth in the workforce, and providing better information and research on the demand for skilled labour in the workforce.

George Gritziotis, Executive Director, Construction Sector Council George Gritziotis began by asking participants, “What does it take to build a school? What does it take to build a home…a hospital…an oil drilling platform or a bridge?” These questions about everyday things can be answered with, “a career in the construction industry,” and that illustrates how the construction industry “is a big part of what our lives are about.” The Construction Sector Council (CSC) wants to promote this idea. The key players in the Construction Sector Council are labour and business leaders that are committed to ensuring that the Construction sector’s human resource issues are addressed in order to ensure that the industry has a viable skilled workforce. The CSC is in its eighteenth month of operation and its members are involved in devising strategic, operational and financial plans, operating principles, policies and by-laws, setting up administration and financial structures, designing projects and initiatives and securing project funding. The CSC vision is to maintain a commitment to developing a highly skilled workforce and a safe workplace environment that contributes to organizational productivity and individual prosperity. “This vision permeates all our products and services,” he said. The CSC has an 18-member board, nine from business and nine from labour. Board members

The Construction Labour Market Information Project (CLMI) is at the heart of CSC’s work plan, he said. Other projects include computer-based health and safety training for pipeline, the Skills Data Card project involving a partnership with the Boilermaker Trade Trust Fund, labour mobility, career awareness, clearinghouse activities, monitoring of LM Policy and a communications plan. “Why is labour market information important?” Mr.Gritziotis asked. Answering this question at the national level is the very core of the CSC Program. The fact that the Construction industry is a multibillion dollar industry and represents 11% of GNP is a driving force behind the importance of collecting this type of data. In fact, one out of every twenty persons is employed in construction. Canada has an aging population and skilled tradespeople will be taking extensive skills and knowledge with them when they retire, he said. The average age of construction workers in Canada is 45-plus. “How do we transfer that knowledge and those skills to a future workforce? What training programs do we need to effectively transfer those

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skills?” he asked, adding that it is only possible to develop effectively targeted programs with good labour market information. “If we acknowledge that tomorrow’s challenge is to ensure we have sufficient workers with the right skills, then the questions we need answered are: How many workers do we need? What kind of skills should they have? and finally, where in Canada will they be required?” Mr. Gritiziotis asked. The short answer, he said, “we don’t know.” The long answer is the CSC’s Construction Labour Market Information (CLMI) Project. Good labour market information will allow us to develop better human resources strategies, would give both workers and employers a better edge, create more targeted training programs, provide clear base-line information for labour relations, and assist with improved planning of major projects, he said. Paul Stoll clarified that he works with the Construction Sector Council but for Human Resources Development Canada. He said HRDC recognized it was impossible to develop good labour market strategies unless there was good labour market information. HRDC has developed similar relationships with councils in other sectors, such as the Software Council and groups forming a Health Care Council. “The CLMI-PS is not a new device,” Mr. Stoll said, but builds on 30 years of experience of labour market information gathering in Canada. One of the first efforts was in Alberta, which looked within each sector to project future needs. The CLMI-PS system, however, is doing “something more ambitious.” Previous problems with data

gathering systems involved “the GiGo problem: garbage in, garbage out.” The information gathered was flawed and therefore so was the information gleaned. “This new system will address those shortcomings,” he said. The key question shaping the CLMI Projection System was, “What do we need the information for?” The answer includes assessment of the industry’s training needs, development of training strategies, projection of needs for inter-provincial migration of trade labour and immigration planning, and large project or regional development planning. Another pertinent question was, “Who would the partners be?” One of the earliest partnerships was with the Ontario Construction Secretariat. Others include the Alberta Construction Labour Relations Association, the Construction Labour Association of B.C., BCYT Provincial Building Trades Council, Quebec Construction Commission (a unique body in Canada) and the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship. The CSC also plans to meet with unions, owner associations and other construction groups to develop further partnerships because, “it is important to expand the network within every province.” “The question of who will own this system is complex,” he said. While the Construction Sector Council would be responsible for maintaining the CLMI-PS, “its role is more of a middleman.” Data would come from a large number of players and partners would retain ownership of the information. “Protocols are being worked out to satisfy this understandable proprietorship.”

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Players on the demand side include Statistics Canada and related federal sources, contractors, quality surveyors, new surveying tools, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, economic modellers such as Informetica Ltd. and other industry players. “These are peaks of the icebergs on the demand-side,” Stoll cautioned, adding that partners are being added all the time. Similarly, Statistics Canada was listed as a source for supply-side data, along with other federal sources, unions and others. “The collection of data will be a labour intensive and complex activity effort,” he concluded. Mr. Stoll cited 14 trade studies done over the last few years that raise concerns of “how to keep the information fresh.” The CLMI - PS will be developed by the Alberta Research Council, under contract to the CSC and future short and longterm economic projections will be done by two economic forecasting agencies. He stressed they would not try to predict outcomes but produce scenarios instead that could help develop different views of how to proceed. The CSC will be looking for new regional partners to help collect data and specify required information and conduct projections. First results from the CLMI-PS are expected this summer. A number of participants stressed that connections between inter-provincial mobility and cost of living concerns be addressed. “In many sectors, workers are compensated for costs of moving to other provinces to offset higher costs of living,”

said one. He cited the high cost of housing in Toronto as an example of a deterrent to mobility for unemployed construction workers in other regions of Canada. Mr. Stoll acknowledged that “the CSC does have to understand the propensity of people to move when the economy goes up,” and suggested a first step might be “to find out migration patterns and relative supply and demands within provinces. Examinations need to be done on a case by case basis.” A participant said that people in some provinces are suffering while there is a surplus of jobs in other parts of the country. Mr. Gritziotis responded by saying “The CLMI-PS will assist people in their decision making process and perhaps encourage people to move throughout the country.” A participant asked about an apparent bias in partnerships on the supply side towards the industrial construction sector. “There is not enough attention to information on the residential construction sector,” agreed Mr. Gritziotis, including the need for analysis of cost of living considerations. He pointed out that the CSC is still in process of engaging partners and that the ICI were the first to sign on. “There is definitely a need to expand the network across the industry.”

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How will the information always be available once we get to count on it? “The CSC expects to be around for a long while,” said Gritziotis, noting that the CSC is a relatively young organization that has a lot of work to do to establish credibility within the industry. “It is our credibility that will ensure our continuity,” he said. A participant noted that because there is a focus on shortages of skilled trades-people in some trades, it gives people the impression shortages exist in all trades. “You don’t want to give people a trade without giving them a job,” he said. This speaks to the heart of the CLMI, said Gritziotis, The CSC is looking at information trade by trade. “This would enable the industry to target shortages in specific trades,” he said. Stoll added that the technique for projecting needs does not look at how many people are in a trade but what people are working at, which would also address this concern. A participant questioned the effectiveness of numerous studies and reports, stressing that implementation of recommendations do not always follow. “What do they really change?” Mr. Stoll said impact of studies is sometimes difficult to measure because, as in the case of the 14 trade studies, strategies are medium- and not short-term. Gritziotis added that information from the 14 trade studies looked at issues such as labour mobility that cut across the trades. “Results

are slower to manifest,” he said. He also pointed to the Boilermakers Awareness Program as a measure of success. Have other sectors attempted a similar kind of data gathering? And what were the biggest challenges of the CLMI? Mr. Gritziotis identified the greatest challenge as “addressing the needs of an industry that is incredibly diverse.” He pointed out that a variety of industry sectors had come together to request funding from HRDC and these groups are moving ahead in three sectors: construction trades, information technologies and health care. Mr. Stoll added that the CSC is considered to be further along in its process than the other two sectors. Has the CSC applied a gender lens to its project? And will the CSC be addressing issues of increasing Aboriginal youth participation in favour of external immigration to address shortages? Mr. Gritziotis said a chart earlier in his presentation had included marginalized groups such as Aboriginal people and women but he had mistakenly not named them. He added that “discussions have taken place on an informal basis” but that the CSC is not focusing “on any one group in terms of the future workforce.”

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Improving Accountability: Manitoba’s Apprentice Portfolio and Instructor’s Guide Christine Kuehl, Director of Program Standards, Manitoba Education, Training and Youth “When I started this job four years ago, all that was available to new apprentices was a slim brochure on the Red Seal program and a record book,” said Christine Kuehl. “Everything else was word of mouth.” A task force made numerous recommendations to government, which led in 1999 to the passage of new legislation and creation of an apprenticeship board, and a change in the way apprenticeship takes place in Manitoba. There are now 53 designated trades, and the branch is updating regulations to for all trades to be in line with the new legislation. Branch staff has more than doubled from 23 to 50 since 1998, and informal research suggests that there is a direct correlation between staffing numbers and the number of individuals entering apprenticeships. There are currently three offices—the main office in Winnipeg and smaller offices in Le Pas and Brandon—with a northern office being developed in Thompson. Do statistics support the correlation between staff and apprentice numbers? What are tuition fees? Although there are no statistics, Ms. Kuehl has observed that in the time period in which the branch has doubled its staff, the number of apprentices in Manitoba has also doubled. Tuition fees are $25 per week or $200 for an eight-week block.

“There are a lot of young people in our branch,” Ms. Kuehl said. “There are new positions and new ways of doing things. As might be expected, some people are pleased with this and some are not.” There has been a significant change in the documentation people receive as they enter apprenticeships. Now each new apprentice receives a portfolio— a thick binder containing comprehensive and constantly updated information such as: • an overview of their apprenticeship • a record book • course and unit outlines • an outline of the journey to certification • trade information and regulations • information on the Red Seal program • a copy of their agreement with the employer • information on employment standards • a list of other useful resources The record book is the key. Apprentices take the same book to work with them throughout their four-year program. The book outlines the responsibilities of the apprentice, the employer, and the journey counsellor. The apprentice signs off on subtasks, providing a sense of responsibility for apprentices to keep track of their own learning. As the apprentice completes each set of subtasks, a journey person signs off on them including their Red Seal number. A signed declaration ensures that the journey person takes this responsibility seriously.

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What happens when record books are lost or stolen? What about record keeping online? Ms. Kuehl noted the impracticality of photocopying each record book, and said that missing record books must be recreated from memory. The branch could get into online record keeping, but current efforts to get the Blue Book online are posing “all kinds of problems.” Although each level is provincially certified, so that technically only the current level would have to be recreated while the others could simply be checked off, Kuehl noted that many people prefer to have a complete record of their apprenticeship to show prospective employers. Do the programs adequately address scope of trade? Scope of trade is easier to accomplish with some employers than others, said Ms.Kuehl. Some construction employers are able to move apprentices around to ensure scope of trade, but this is less practical in many small shops. Although not all apprentices cover full scope of trade in the technical aspect of their program, it is not necessary to have all tasks signed off in order to write the interprovincial exam, and they do cover scope of trade in their theoretical and practical studies. Developing a model for technical training has been a “real challenge,” said Ms. Kuehl. In the past, they did an occupational analysis and put it into levels but they are now using a different model. Using the common core curriculum model for carpentry as an example, they now provide a technical train-

ing profile consisting of units, courses and levels. Each course covers a skill area and may include several units within it. Each level consists of units that will bring the apprentice to an appropriate level of development across scope of trade. A onepage grid illustrates the way units, courses, and levels mesh. Units deliver training, marking, and testing. Each unit may cover theory, practical, or technical training, or a combination. Theoretical knowledge is tested through a multiple-choice exam format and practical knowledge through a checklist based on criteria. A passing grade is 70%. Upon completion of all units in a course, a pass/fail is delivered for that course. Apprentices must pass all units in a level in order to proceed to the next level. Are there course prerequisites? There are no prerequisites for courses but there are for some units, Kuehl said. For example, some prior safety or science background may be required for some units. How are failed units handled? This is one of the biggest problems they’ve encountered, Ms. Kuehl said. Failing several units in a level may require that the apprentice repeat the level, but if only one unit has been missed there are possibilities for remediation of that unit alone. This is problematic for the colleges, especially with block release of units, but it is better for the apprentices.

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Are any courses offered online? Ms. Kuehl said no, but was corrected by a participant from Manitoba who noted that some electrical courses are now being offered online. Development of each apprentice program begins with a blank template and an analysis of what needs to be done and at which level, said Ms. Kuehl. Different levels may take different amounts of time. Programs are developed in close consultation with colleges and with input from employers to ensure that the needs of instructors, students, and employers are balanced. What must apprentices do before taking interprovincial exams? Apprentices must have completed all units, put in all required hours (generally six to eight months) and have paid all fees before taking their exam. Most programs and many colleges offer IP review courses before taking the exam. Is it possible for apprentices to challenge any portion of a program when it’s part of an eight-week block release? “We’re working toward that,” said Ms. Kuehl, but there are problems with the colleges and with EI layoffs. “It’s not a perfect system.”

Can students begin apprenticeships before leaving high school? There are provisions for Grades 11 and 12 students to register as apprentices and begin accumulating hours so that they can move into the regular apprenticeship program on graduation from high school, said Ms. Kuehl. Is safety incorporated in apprenticeship training? The branch is working toward this, said Ms. Kuehl. Technical training at the high school level is occupational health and safety. A participant noted that some high schools have been accredited so that a kid who comes through high school with 70% or better in safety can go directly into the second level of apprenticeship. Assessment at the high school level is not just multiple choice, but is undertaken through various means, Ms. Kuehl noted. Do pre-apprenticeship programs still exist? These still exist because with some trades it is not practical to “take someone off the street,” said Ms. Kuehl. The length of these programs varies by trade. With some trades, such as hair styling and cosmetology, noted said a participant, the program is all pre-apprenticeship; the apprenticeship portion is more like a practicum.

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What is the minimum grade requirement for entering apprenticeship programs? The branch is reviewing regulations for all trades in Manitoba and is generally expecting a minimum of Grade 12 before entering apprenticeship unless the trade requires less; for example, a cook apprenticeship requires only Grade 10. How many apprenticeable trades are offered in private schools? Very few; hair styling and roofing are the only two examples that came to mind, said Ms. Kuehl. Young people interested in trades must be encouraged to stick with core subjects in high school, such as math. Too many students participate in vocational training in order to “dodge” certain subjects, but many employers require Grade 12 math, and many young people who otherwise would be suitable cannot be hired because they do not have it. “High schools are doing young people a disservice by not requiring very comprehensive math as an aspect of vocational training,” he said. Ms. Kuehl responded that she would not pursue this discussion as it was beyond the scope of her presentation.

includes information on development of unit tests and exams, as well as technical training outlines organized by level. All of the materials have been developed through extensive planning, including inputs from industry, college instructors. Once a draft portfolio has been approved, an implementation plan is developed followed by an instructor’s guide. Information sessions are offered for trade instructors once the curriculum has been approved. This is followed by ongoing consultation with industry to ensure that apprentices undertaking and completing the program are meeting industry needs. There is also heavy accountability to the apprentices in terms of keeping them informed about what’s expected of them by instructors, employers, and the apprenticeship board. Of 53 trades identified in Manitoba, how many have been completed in this format? Apprenticeship programs for about 15 have been completed in this format, said Kuehl. The others are included in a four-year plan. Currently, very few of the 53 trades require certification, “but we are working toward that.”

The branch has developed an instructor’s guide and is developing an employer’s guide, said Ms. Kuehl. The instructor’s guide incorporates policies, principles of teaching and learning, teaching tips, specifics of curriculum development, and other supports for delivery of training. It also

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Changes in Skill Training and Recognition in Québec Daniel Laurendeau, Expert on employment and human resources development/ Secretariat of the Labour Market Partnership Board Prior to discussing the changes in Skill training and recognition occurring in Québec, Mr. Laurendeau first explained the context in which these changes are happening. The first element is to look at the role of the Labour Market Partnership Board (LMPB) (la Commission des partenaires du marché du travail). In 1998, following the conclusion of the CanadaQuébec labour market agreement, Emploi-Québec, a new public employment service organisation, was created. Under the law creating Emploi-Québec, the Québec government also created the Labour Market Partnership Board (LMPB). The LMPB works with the Minister of Employment in defining priorities and strategies relative to the development of human resources and of employment. These priorities and strategies are then implemented by Emploi-Québec. An example of the added value demonstrated by the LMPB can be seen with the development of a Skills Training and Recognition General Framework and its contribution towards the development of a government policy on Adult Education and Lifelong Learning.

The LMPB operates its decision making process on a consensus basis. The representation on the LMPB is as follows: • A full-time Chair • The Deputy Minister, Director-General of Emploi-Québec who is the Secretary G General of the Board • Six labour representatives; chairs of major unions • Six management representatives; major employer organisations like the Conseil du Patronat, the Québec Chamber of Commerce and the Québec Manufacturers and Exporters • Three representatives from community organization and/or associations • Three representatives from educational institutions; the Federation of School Boards, Federation of Colleges and a representative from the university community • Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity • Three Deputy Ministers of the Ministry Stakeholders that have responsibility for labour market development issues: Education, Industry and Commerce, Regional and Urban Development Ministries. The LMPB exercises a leadership role within the partnership networks. These networks extend to 16 Regional Labour Market Partnership Boards with representation from labour, management, communities and education institutions, to 26 Sectoral Human Resource Committees also with representation from labour, management, and education institutions and as well to a few other partnershiplike structures.

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A second element is the legislation pertaining to the development of human resource training. Created in 1995, this piece of legislation promotes the development of a qualified the labour force. Employers with a salary budget over $250 000 are legislated to invest a minimum of 1% of their salary budget towards the training of their employees. The part of the 1% that is not invested in the training of employees is collected and directed, through the tax collection system, to a designated NationaI Human Resources Training Fund that serves to promote, generate and support the development of human resources training within the labour market.

government department or agencies and education institutions. The sectoral approach thrives on two important principles. Firstly, it is the stakeholders directly affected by HR issues that are encouraged to take charge of the identifying those problems and reaching a satisfactory solution to address these HR issues. Secondly, management and labour partnerships need to be promoted and supported as a best practice in terns of meeting industry’s human resource challenges.

Under the ultimate responsibility of the Minister of Employment, the LMPB is directly responsible for all aspects of the Law for the development of human resource training, thus directly responsible for the development of a qualified the labour force. The LMPB manages the National Human Resources Training Fund. Investment by employers in workforce training fund has increased noticeably since the implementation of this law.

In 1998, after the failure of a previous apprenticeship program directed at youth entering the labour market, the LMPB mandated a task force to develop a new apprenticeship program. The LMPB values training taking place in the labour market and wishes to highlight and recognize workplace training. It felt that the dynamics of the labour market lacked a separate skill oriented certification system, different from the education diploma and designed specifically to meet labour market needs. The intent is not to compete with the education system but to develop a complementary approach to satisfying specific labour market needs that the education system is not in a position to meet. The task force recommended the following: • The new apprenticeship program should be under the responsibility of the LMPB and not that of the Ministry of Education. • It should be more responsive to labour markets needs.

A third element is the Sectoral approach. This approach is a unique strategy put forward by the LMPB and implemented by Emploi-Québec. The intent is to develop a more effective solution of labour market needs. To date, 26 Sectoral Human Resources Committees have been recognized by the LMPB, thus entitling them to receive financial support by Emploi-Québec. This support covers operating costs and other costs incurred for the implementation of various authorized projects. Representation includes labour unions, industry employer associations or large employers, sectoral

After introducing these three elements, Mr Laurendeau then went on to explain the nature of the changes presently occurring in Québec.

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• It should be directed at workers already in the workforce rather than at young people still in the education system. • It should institute a separate labour market skill oriented certification system. Broad consultation and experiments conducted in six Sectoral Human Resources Committees gave the task force valuable information on what an appropriate model should look like. Some of the comments that were expressed by the pilot projects were to the effect that: • While their was a need for flexibility to address different sectoral contexts, it was necessary to adopt only one model; • Stakeholders in the sectoral committees should have the primary role in developing skills standards, training programs and skills assessment processes; • The training strategy should be based on having an apprentice supported by a journeyperson. but be flexible in cases whereby some employers only have one or very few employees on a site; • Trainers (journeypersons) should themselves be supported so they could be as effective as possible; • Additional funding would be required in order to include the participation of the sectoral committees in the process. Instead of a new apprenticeship program with rigid rules, the task force recommended adoption by the LMPB of a flexible general framework. In June of 2001, making use of the power vested in the LMPB within the Legislation for the Development of Human Resource Training, the LMPB adopted a Skill Training and Recognition General Framework.

Under this general framework, the on the job training strategy based upon the concept that the apprentice is supported by a journeyperson is favoured by members of the LMPB. This apprenticeship training strategy integrates the former Qualification Program under which 32 trade training programs had been previously developed by Emploi-Québec. This general framework has just recently been implemented in April of 2002. It is designed based upon the coordination of two important elements. The first one is that under this General Framework all skills training and recognition will be based on occupational skills standards largely recognized by industry. The second one is, to make sure that the occupational skills standards are industry driven and for which the development of the standards are necessary. These standards will then be designated by the above mentioned Sectoral Human Resources Committees. The latter will be responsible for the development of the Occupational Skill Standards, the Labour Market based training programs and various other aspects of skill recognition. They will be closely supported by qualified Emploi-Québec training development officers. Skills Certification, ultimately under the authority of the Employment Minister, is recognized by Emploi-Québec and the LMPB. It will be noted that the Sectoral Human Resources Committee has developed the Occupational Skills Standard. Skills certification is then recorded in a governmental registry and will be retrievable if ever lost by workers.

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Emploi-Québec plays also a pivotal role. It is responsible for the management and the implementation of all Emploi-Québec activities related to the General Framework. It provides sectoral committees with a strong technical support regarding the development of Occupational Skill Standards, training programs and skill evaluation and recognition processes. It validates the quality and correctness of the developed tools and procedures. It manages the governmental registry of recognized skills certification. The LMPB banks on a close partnership between the sectoral committees and Emploi-Québec to develop sound and effective skill training and recognition programs. Projects are initiated by the Sectoral Human Resources Committees, each of which could be segmented into three phases: exploration, development and implementation. During the exploration phase, the sectoral committees assess, by consensus, the relevance of the apprenticeship program and the readiness of the sector to use the approach. Projects are then submitted for approval and funding by the LMPB. Financing comes from the National Human Resources Training Fund. At the implementation stage, Sectoral committees receive additional support from Emploi-Québec. Through its field offices, Emploi-Québec helps in promoting at the business level, training programs and skills recognition processes are developed. The sectoral committees have an overall follow-up responsibility over the success of the programs developed for their sector.

Two objectives were set for 2002-2003: Development of Occupational Standards for 10 new trades (32 are already in the framework) and training of an additional 2,000 trades workers. Since start of implementation in last April, three projects covering five trades have been authorizd by the LMPB: metallic industrial manufacturing sector (three trades), agriculture (Dairy) and the environment sector (industrial cleaning and hazardous equipment operator). QUESTION PERIOD ➤ A participant said that Ottawa has a special situation because there is a lot of overlap between Ontario and Québec. He asked if workers would be recognized in Québec if they had been trained elsewhere. The development of skills standards and skills recognition mechanisms is just starting. Broad scale availability of skills assessment facilities is further down the road. Asked about trades in the construction industry, Mr. Laurendeau pointed out that the construction industry has its own trade training organization, which takes place in trade training centres. The industry has difficulties organizing and recognizing on the job training.

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The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) Joyce Sobering, Chair, Apprenticeship Trades and Qualification Board, Manitoba David Gilday, Director of Apprenticeship, Government of the Northwest Territories In 1928, said David Gilday, Ontario passed the first legislation in the country regarding apprentices. In 1944, the Vocational Training Coordinated Act was passed, which was supported by a committee made up of the federal government, provincial governments and labour representatives. Cooperation among these groups has been very important from the early days, and the CCDA has been built on strong relationships between unions, industry and government. In 1952, the Apprenticeship Advisory Committee began developing national trade and occupational analyses, enabling trades-people to travel freely between jurisdictions. In 1957, there was a proposal for an exam based on occupational analyses, and those that passed were given a seal to signify that their qualifications could be accepted country-wide. The first Red Seal was given in 1959, and the Red Seal Program is now managed by the CCDA. The CCDA’s mandate is two-fold: first, to encourage the standardization of territorial/provincial training and certification programs, and second, to provide greater mobility across Canada for skilled workers. The organization’s mission is to foster the development of a highly skilled workforce and to facilitate inter-provincial mobility through the development, implementation and recognition of

the Interprovincial Standards (Red Seal) program. The guiding principle behind the CCDA is that all jurisdictions (and industry) should participate in the design and development process. In terms of structure, the CCDA is made up of members of the territories and provinces (usually the senior government official responsible for trades and apprenticeship training) plus two delegates from HRDC. Although each member has one vote, the CCDA operates on a consensus basis. HRDC provides administrative and organizational support, and underwrites the significant financial cost of updating new occupational analyses. The 15 members of the CCDA serve on six committees. There are four primary committees, including executive, industry relations, products, and promotions, marketing and information. The CCDA also has two working committees: the Interprovincial Standards Examination Committee (ISEC) and the Interprovincial Computerized Examination Management System steering committee (ICEMS). The committee structure evolves continuously. The CCDA has a strong relationship with industry and labour representatives, and has invited the Inter-Provincial Alliance (IPA) of Apprenticeship Board Chairs to participate on all CCDA committees to ensure that industry viewpoints are brought to the table. There is a minimum of two IPA members on each of the four primary committees of the CCDA. Joyce Sobering then presented some information on the Inter-Provincial Alliance of Apprenticeship Board Chairs. (IPA). The IPA’s mission is to strengthen

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inter-provincial apprenticeship cooperation at the industry level by creating a vehicle that links the apprentice, trade certification and related work-based training systems of the provinces and territories of Canada. Members of the IPA are selected by industry groups and ultimately appointed by the Minister. Their mandate is to offer a strategic focus on apprenticeship issues from an industry perspective, provide an inter-provincial industry board forum on apprenticeship matters, facilitate the flow of information, discuss solutions to apprenticeship issues, meet with the CCDA to deal with inter-provincial apprenticeship issues and participate on CCDA standing committees. Some issues they have recently discussed include labour mobility and changes to waiting period for EI benefits. Membership on the IPA is open to the chairperson or designate of the apprentice board of each province or territory. If no apprenticeship board exists, a representative of industry who serves on the provincial apprenticeship advisory board system may sit on the IPA. The IPA meets with CCDA in the spring and fall, and the IPA is represented on the board of CAF - FCA and participates in all CAF -FCA meetings. Sobering stressed the need for all to work cohesively to build a strong apprenticeship system in Canada. Issues facing IPA and CCDA include: • enhancing the image of the apprentice and trade professions • addressing the skills shortage • determining how to recognize foreign credentials and prior learning assessment

• promoting the mobility of trades-people across the country • developing common national standards • expanding and promoting the Red Seal designated trades • expanding the number of apprentices • completing the inter-provincial computer examinations management system • increasing completion rates • updating national occupational analyses • upgrading journeyperson skills • ensuring appropriate resources for the CCDA and IPA • promoting collaboration and trust between employers, labour and government The presenters expanded on some of these points. The image of the trades as a profession needs to be improved and enhanced, especially among our country’s young people. For skills shortage, Sobering talked about “tapping the untapped potential.” Specifically, she mentioned trying to provide increased apprenticeship opportunities for women, adults, Aboriginals and new Canadians. Mr.Gilday expanded on the need to see Aboriginal Canadians as an untapped segment of the market and underlined that their success rates are just as high, often through slight modifications to programs (such as extending weeks of training to compensate for language barriers).

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The development of core standards is an important issue facing the CCDA. Because apprenticeship is a jurisdictional issue, there is a need to develop national standards. This can also provide cost savings and support worker mobility.

Although there is no problem with individuals with Red Seal designation working across the country, students who have completed one to three years of training often have difficulty getting this recognized by other provinces.

Although greater numbers are enrolled in apprentice programs, the completion rate has stayed quite constant according to Stats Can data. There is a need to assess why apprentices are not completing their programs.

This issue is tied to the need for common core skills training. Discussion then turned to the importance of teaching both theory and practice, suggesting that there has recently been too much emphasis on theory.

Updating the national occupational analyses is a huge task in terms of time and money. Occupational analyses also need to be developed for new trades.

A final participant wanted the CCDA to be aware that B.C.’s input to the national body does not include the perspective or voice of labour.

Will recent changes in B.C. change the B.C. government’s participation in CCDA? While CCDA is always concerned about jurisdiction changes, B.C. has assured the CCDA that the training offered under the new system will enable people to attain Red Seal certification. A participant questioned the current system where 10 jurisdictions, with minimal resources, are responsible for the training and apprenticeship system, and whether it wouldn’t be better to pool resources across the country to develop a first-class training curriculum. This issue is addressed by the need to develop common core curriculum standards.

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If Apprenticeship is the Future, Why Do We …? Robert Blakely, Director of Canadian Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO The image of the trades has been degraded by a number of self-defeating strategies over the course of the past 20 or 30 years, said Robert Blakely. A labour relations lawyer with a background as a worker in the building trades, Mr. Blakely said the image of workers in the trades is that “we are basically troglodytes.” That image is “screamingly untrue,” but “we don’t sell ourselves to anyone.” Universities must start giving credit to tradespeople and viewing the trades as “peers of the professional programs.” Careers in the trades can be rewarding and exciting. But the average age of those entering an apprenticeship is now 27, suggesting that the trades have become “the employment of last resort.” Recognizing that “our life-blood is training,” the trades in Canada spend some $300 million a year on apprenticeships. However, “a demographic time-bomb” looms, as the average age of journeyman trades-people is now well over 40, and in some trades over 50 and even 60. “The people who are looking at retirement can see it from where they’re standing.” While the workforce is aging, the demand for skilled labour is increasing as most of Canada experiences an economic boom. “Apprenticeship is a guarantee that people have skills,” and apprentices are needed more than ever.

Canada’s apprenticeship program is “the envy of the world,” but the system has flaws, among them the fact that apprentices are often laid off when the economy slows, and find completing their on-thejob training difficult. A real partnership between employers, organized labour and government could counter this. However, jurisdictional squabbles between trades often interfere with training. “We need a focus on training, not on jurisdiction, with supervision by government to enforce standards.” While the Red Seal program is a start, national standards are all but nonexistent. The Atlantic Core Curriculum is a good model for the nation, along with “sequencing,” so that an apprentice who takes some training in Ontario can pick up where he/she left off in Alberta or B.C. Government’s role involves creating a climate, providing funding, setting standards and ensuring apprenticeship programs are affordable and providing enforcement. “Nowhere in Canada is government fully committed,” and we could end up with a “decaying” system like that in the U.S. Employers must also be more engaged in the process, to “make sure apprentices are learning what they need to know.” Indeed, before employers can take on apprentices, they should be accredited, just as legal firms are before they can take on articling lawyers. Employers should provide mentors. Apprenticeship programs can be a “profit centre” for industry, not just a “cost centre.” “When properly monitored, they should always make money.” An industry-driven system “means trade committees

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that are engaged and do their work.” School, colleges and other institutions can provide input but should not have the same input as industry.

system should not be undertaken every three or four years: “Do it once, do it right and let it ride for a while.”

The much-valued mobility, as well as the high wages, of the trades depends on a broad skill base. Less training for less pay is not a good idea: society won’t benefit from a glut of semi-skilled workers. Doctors are trained to be generalists first, then specialists; similarly, in the trades, “we want to teach generalists first.” Apprentices need valid secondary skills, but the trades should not be fractured into “tiny skill-set niches,” like “door-knob installers” and “door-jamb installers.”

In pre-apprenticeship programs, participants are typically male, often second-generation or immigrants. The number of First Nations people, people with disabilities and women (who now make up about three per cent of apprentices) should be increased. Simple, brute strength is no longer as important as it once was, and “systems that don’t mirror the population as a whole are doomed to be irrelevant.” Another issue is the high level of accidents for young workers, and OH&S (occupational health and safety) programs should be embedded in apprentice programs.

“In the U.S., where they do this, apprenticeship programs have failed. If you track-train people, by the time the next downturn hits, people with limited skills are candidates for social assistance.” In bricklaying, a highly competitive trade, apprentices are discouraged from working “on the wall,” because of the need for high productivity. Canada lost a generation of apprentices in the 1990s, when very few started during an economic slowdown. In 2000, that number rose dramatically. “We lose at both ends of the business cycle. When business gears up, we get starter apprentices, but they don’t necessarily go to completion [when unemployment rises.] At the other end, the apprentices are first to get laid off.” In the future, a new perception of the trades is essential, together with trades and vocational education in high school. “Trained people are one of the decisiondrivers that big industry uses when they site a project.” Review and reform of the apprenticeship

What about recognition of skill beyond journey status? Mr. Blakely agreed there is a need to recognize skill beyond the journeyperson level, with laddering or a master’s certification. What about recognition of trades certification from other countries? Mr. Blakely noted Ontario and Alberta have a pilot project to recognize trades certifications from other countries, but said trade certificates are not valued by Canada’s immigration authorities. He went on to note that trade training is “the ugly step-child of post-secondary education.” As evidence, some 80% of post-secondary tax dollars are spent on universities, which serve just 20% of the population.

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Why has the B.C. government dismantled its apprenticeship branch? Mr. Blakely suggested that Premier Gordon Campbell might have received some bad advice, and now won’t admit his mistake. “We need to focus on successful projects,” he said, citing Alberta, where there is good industry involvement, but the technical institutes lack funding. “It’s time to pressure governments to move the 13 apprenticeship programs together.” If that can’t happen—“and it is unlikely”—the solution is 13 programs moving in “lock-step.”

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Pilot Study on the Effective Use of Apprentices in the Industrial Construction Sector Aminah Robinson Fayek, Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta Dr. Aminah Robinson Fayek said her presentation would highlight final results of a project done for the Construction Owners Association of Alberta, which had buy-in from players such as government, owners, lab associates and workers. It was conducted at Athabasca, on the downstream portion of the oil sands project in Scotsford, Alberta. The pilot was intended to develop a data-collection methodology to enable the COAA to find out how to better integrate apprentices into the industrial construction sector. The background of the project lay in overlapping phenomena: the rapid growth in the industrial construction sector in Alberta, major projects being scheduled, an aging population and anticipated shortages of skilled workers, the need to transfer skills to a future workforce, and the traditionally low use of apprentices in the industrial construction sector. The Construction Owners Association formed an Effective Integration of Apprentices Sub-Committee but was immediately confronted by a lack of data on how to increase use of apprentices in this sector. They partnered with the University of Alberta to address the shortage of data.

For this project, Dr. Fayek started out with a list of traditional myths about apprentices that persist in the industrial sector: that apprentices reduce productivity, increase costs and mean inadequate skills bases. She identified the project as having essentially raised information on the advantages of using apprentices. The project was conducted in summer, 2001 and focused on two major trades: pipefitters and electricians. These were chosen, she said, as they would be particularly active for the duration of the study. Each trade was examined for a six-week period, and four crews were studied per trade. The study looked at multiple crews performing similar tasks. Different types of data were collected using different forms. Data collection tools included productivity data of individual tasks, work sampling and five-minute rating data, weather and on-site conditions data and several survey questionnaires for each category of worker. Productivity data was gathered with the intention of recording individual tasks done by different crewmembers, the number of hours spent by the worker on each task, and the quantity of work completed. The idea was to facilitate comparisons of the productivity and unit labour cost for similar tasks performed by different crew ratios of apprentices to journeymen. Fluctuations in productivity to do with factors outside worker control, such as weather conditions and delays were also tracked. The biggest challenge encountered at the outset was to identify the major tasks for each trade. Although the project team of researchers did extensive reading of published task lists, these

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were found to be inadequate once they got in the field. A lesson learned, Dr. Fayek said, is that task lists must be updated to capture technical changes that occur at the field level. “As non-tradespeople, we ended up having to ask numerous questions” of experienced journeymen and apprentices. Tasks were then categorized as standard and nonstandard. Standard tasks were identified as directly relating to their scope of work and non-standard as miscellaneous non-core tasks. Primary and secondary factors affecting productivity were further categorized. Fayek stressed the importance of recording the secondary characteristics that affect productivity of the task; because non-standard tasks and secondary factors did not occur with the consistency and repetitiveness of standard tasks and primary factors due to the small sample size and limitations of time, it prohibited analyses in this case. Reviewing data gathered from observing the pipefitter and electrician crews, Fayek noted that in several cases, the man-hours productivity improved and unit labour costs decreased by increasing the ratio of apprentices to journeymen. While the study does not allow her to say a certain ratio achieves a certain outcome, she said she could answer the question “Does the methodology work?” with a resounding, “Yes. And I can say, ‘Go use it on a larger scale and get the data you need.’” Her study is now publicly available through their Web site.

A key finding from the productivity data was that apprentices were involved in most of the tasks being performed on the job site. Thus, they were important and effective members of the crews. Dr. Fayek described work sampling as another productivity measurement technique based on statistical sampling theory. It consisted of randomly observing crewmembers for a limited period of time and observing the mode of activity. It helped estimate the amount of time a crewmember is productive (performing direct work), semi-productive (performing a support work) and non-productive (experiencing delays) relative to the total amount of time the person is working. The work sampling of pipefitters and electricians was conducted by category of worker, and first-, second-, third- and fourth-year apprentices were observed. A key finding from work sampling was that apprentices were “not merely being used to do the grunt work but perform the actual work.” All values of work performed were comparable, the variation being that apprentices also did some additional prep tasks for the journeymen. Fayek concluded that apprentices are active and important members of the crew. While studies show average estimates of time spent on direct tasks to be around 30%, they found it was closer to 50%. Five-minute rating was conducted in a similar fashion for five-minute periods. Almost all categories of workers were active for about 60% of the time, which led her to conclude that performance was more than acceptable.

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Data collection at the end of the project involved survey questionnaires on how to improve on-job training. Alberta has a tool called the Apprentice Record Book and Task List, more commonly referred to as the Blue Book. While the Task List was developed to help facilitate the rotation of apprentices, the questionnaires show that foremen, journeymen or apprentices are not necessarily using these lists. Of eight foremen, only three were using that information as a reference for working with apprentices. This implies a need for further study to determine why task lists are not being used. Fayek stressed that this work should be done with the full involvement of those doing the work. Feedback from questionnaires filled out by apprentices showed that most appprentices expressed the need for more rotation to increase exposure to a greater variety of tasks. They also expressed a desire for more responsibility, Dr. Fayek reported. She said overall findings were that apprentices can be as effective as journeymen on specific tasks, provided they are given adequate instruction and supervision, and that they are aware of proper safety practices. She stressed mentoring as essential for successful integration of apprentices. Other recommendations included the need for more formal and structured approaches to on-job training. Returning to the beginning of her presentation, Fayek noted that, contrary to myth, apprentices achieve similar productivity levels, the use of apprentices can lead to reduced costs, apprentices have adequate skills providing they are given adequate supervision and instruction, and many tasks are suitable for apprentices.

Implications for future studies include expanding the study to look at additional trades, looking at projects over time and at different stages of completion, and taking more time to encompass the full scope of each trade. Above all, cooperation of all on-site personnel is critical to a study’s success. Fayek noted that her team spent two weeks prior to starting the pilot doing a test run on-site. “This allowed the workers to become familiar with us,” minimizing the impact of the observation team on worker productivity. Noting that the full report can be found at http://www.coaa.ab.ca/workforcedev/ workforcedevhome.htm and at http://cem.civil.ualberta.caapprentice_Study_2002.zip, Dr. Fayek opened the floor for questions. Describe the lack of information on the identification of tasks. Dr. Fayek said the short answer to this limitation is that on-site workers did not feel the task list reflects what they are doing. This could be because people are not being forced to use them. More information is needed to assess how the lists might be improved. However, she was more shocked to find that the on-the-job portion of training wasn’t as regulated as off-site training: there is no quality control to ensure an apprentice gets exposure to a variety of tasks and rotation is often open to chance and left up to individual apprentices or journeymen to pursue. A participant noted that the lack of regulation of rotation only occurs in some provinces. Dr. Fayek acknowledged she was referring specifically to Alberta.

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Which category of worker was the most important mentor for the apprentices in her project? Dr. Fayek said that an experienced journeyman was often the most valuable mentor but that a foreman who ensures rotation as well as the dynamics and attitude of an entire crew is also important. A participant commented that in a similar study in Manitoba, tasks were broken down further into sub-tasks. Dr. Fayek noted this would be effective as the task level is too general. However, studying the sub-task level is a significant undertaking.

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You Can Get There From Here: Accessing Formal Academic Education Using Prior Learning Assessment (PLAR) Anne Schultz, Royal Roads University Warren Fraleigh, Training Coordinator, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Warren Fraleigh—who holds journey status in two trades, numerous national and international qualifications in inspection and supervision, and has just completed a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training (MALT) at Royal Roads University— opened the session by saying, “I want to walk you through how I ended up where I am today.” Before beginning his story, he noted that over the next decade 50% of 25- to 64-year-olds will require post-secondary education. It is therefore becoming imperative to encourage Canadians in the workplace to “learn while you earn,” and to improve both mobility and access for adult learners. Part of this will be increasing recognition of prior learning assessment (PLA). Apprenticeship can be the foundation on which a fantastic career can be built, just as university can, said Mr. Fraleigh. Through a straw poll of the audience, he determined that 50% had formal apprenticeship training while 25% had a university degree—and most of the latter group was not now using their university training in their career. “It’s rare for a 20 to 25-year-old to know what he wants to do for the rest of his life,” said Mr. Fraleigh. “I didn’t.” Commenting on the stigma attached to

the trades, he recalled his grandmother’s disappointment when she learned that he—an honours student—was going to apprentice as a boilermaker instead of going to university. Nonetheless, he said, he forged ahead, creating the foundation for what has been “an unbelievable career.” “What’s important is choice,” he said. “We need to take the trades from being a second choice or alternative to being a first choice. And this will require a paradigm shift.” Describing himself as 41 years old, married for 20 years, with two teenage daughters, Mr. Fraleigh said he is a firm believer in life-long learning. This belief was a key aspect of why he chose to pursue MALT program after 25 years as a tradesperson. Another factor was that his MA would allow him to contribute to his organization at more intense level. It also appealed to his focus on goals. “We need to talk to apprentices more about their short-, medium-, and long-term goals,” he said. He also believes in seizing opportunities; although he hadn’t planned to pursue university studies, when the opportunity presented itself he grabbed it. Besides, he quipped, “who needs spare time?” Royal Roads University proved to be the best choice for him, he said. Distance delivery addresses mobility and access issues, integration of learning with real-life organizational problem enables the learner to give back to his or her sponsoring organization, and PLA—in which work experience can be considered equivalent to a university degree— make for an innovative approach that works well for mid-career professionals.

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The application process at Royal Roads consists of a personal statement of why the individual is applying, a structured resume, and both personal and professional references. But acceptance is only the beginning, he said. “Communicating your needs at work and to your family is vital, because their support will be critical to your success.” Developing discipline and “re-learning how to learn” are challenging, especially to tradespersons to whom reading and writing may have become unfamiliar. The program begins with pre-residence work, which includes a lot of reading. There is an initial residence period of five weeks with a peer group of mid-career professional from 25 to 55 years of age. The first distance session requires 12 weeks of networked computer learning from home and is followed by a second distance session and a second residence of four weeks. The final requirement is a major project or thesis, “which is intended to be very practical to the organization you work with,” he said. Having just completed the program, Mr. Fraleigh said, he has no doubt that it was worth it. It provided value-added learning, a big-picture perspective, and opportunities for personal development, as well as benefits to his organization and his trade. To those with an interest, he said, “investigate thoroughly, be sure you can commit—and then go for it!” Providing a broad-brush perspective on Royal Roads, Anne Schultz noted that it is a public university offering programs designed in concert with advisory boards from pertinent work places. The learning philosophy is one of partnership between

learner and faculty. Assessment of competency is based on learning outcomes and performance indicators. Learners must be experienced and career-oriented. MALT is not suitable for people who have recently attained their BA. “They must have experience to apply their learning to,” said Schultz. The average age of learners is 40 and they complete the program in cohorts of about 50. Royal Roads began as a military college and is now a public university offering programs in entrepreneurship and management, leadership and learning, environmental sustainability, and conflict resolution. Both certificate and master’s programs are offered, and it is possible to move people from certificate into master’s programs. PLA is used to assess “what individuals know and can do.” As such, it requires some demonstration that learning already attained will allow the learner to meet certain competency outcomes. “Our goal is for the candidate to be successful,” said Ms. Schultz. Assessment methods vary depending on the individual, she said, noting that writing is often a struggle. Suitability for the program is assessed on five levels: • Character: The candidate must demonstrate integrity, self-initiative, work ethic, social conscience, and honesty as determined through reference checks and participation in work organizations and community groups. • Leadership: The candidate must demonstrate leadership skills through scope of work responsibilities, number of years on the job, and evidence of success in moving through the ranks at work, in the community, or in one’s business.

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• Knowledge: The candidate must have a BA and five years of work experience or experience at running one’s own business. If the candidate does not have a BA, he or she requires an additional five years of work experience. • Skills: The candidate must display good verbal and written skills as demonstrated through papers written for conferences, resumes, or even the cover letter for the application. If necessary, the university may ask the candidate to provide additional evidence of writing skills. The candidate must also display basic knowledge of computers and software, and the university provides a bridging program for people who need it. The candidate must also demonstrate his involvement in projects and problem solving at work or in the community. • Commitment to Learning: The candidate must be able to show that his or her work experience has become increasingly complex, and that he or she has continued to pursue learning and professional development opportunities. At Royal Roads, said Ms. Schultz, “it is our belief that if you’ve been in the workplace for 25 years, the need for a BA can be waived. Is the Royal Roads program recognized at other universities? Royal Roads is an accredited university and that means that its Masters degree is recognized at other universities, said Ms. Schultz. Mr. Fraleigh added that one of his fellow graduates has been accepted into the PhD program and the University

of Calgary. “Royal Roads is a young university but as other institutions find out about the success of its program, it will be more widely accepted.” Given lives that include busy work schedules and children, how long is it possible to stretch out this program? “Life happens,” said Schultz, and it is possible for learners to take a leave of absence for up to a year. This occurred to one learner in Fraleigh’s class who became pregnant. “But she still came to graduation, because this program creates friends for life,” added Ms. Schultz. Do other programs at Royal Roads use PLA? All programs demand that students meet certain minimum requirements, but all programs employ PLA to assess that, said Ms.Schultz. How much does the program cost? Tuition is increasing to $7150 per year in September 2002 after a multi-year tuition freeze. The program takes two years, each residence costs an additional $1000, and there are the costs of travel and leaves of absence on top of that. “I’m lucky,” said Fraleigh, “because the boilermakers sponsored me fully, paid my wages in full, and so on.” In return, he has made a five-year service commitment to them to ensure that they benefit from what they have paid for. There is a provision for a pro-rated return of funds if an unbeatable opportunity arises before the five years is up.

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Are there opportunities for community health care workers at Royal Roads? About 20% of intakes at Royal Roads are in health care, said Ms.Schultz, noting that in all programs, “by the end, many of our learners have made a career change.” What percentage of applicants is accepted? Royal Roads has a 25% turndown rate, said Ms. Schultz. “Some applicants think they can receive their BA on Wednesday and apply to Royal Roads on Thursday, but we really need people with work experience.” The university also runs a MALT program for individuals in safety fields, such as firefighting and law enforcement, through the Justice Institute in Vancouver. In all, the program takes in 150 learners per year, she said, noting that there is also a leadership stream for the MBA program.

How are instructors evaluated? Instructors are chosen through a process of modeling competencies and assessing teaching experience, said Schultz. The average score for faculty members is 4.5 out of 5. Faculty members are all contracted; there are no tenure-track positions. Fifty per cent of residence faculty are practitioners from the workplace; the other 50% are academics. “Because we’re new, we’re constantly building,” said Ms. Schultz. One possible route to a degree is the certificate and diploma route which takes longer however allows the flexibility of learners to take a piece of a program at a time. The long-term plan is to move MALT outside of B.C. by changing residency requirements, with current possibilities including Ontario and the U.S. Further information on Royal Roads is available on a comprehensive Web site at http://www.royalroads.ca.

Is it better to apply, be accepted, and then plan, or do the planning first? It’s better to plan and then apply than be accepted and then “defer, defer, defer,” said Ms. Schultz.

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Co-operative Development of Apprenticeship Training Standards in Atlantic Canada: Best Practices Heather Umlah, Program Administration Officer, Apprenticeship Training Division, Nova Scotia Department of Education Co-operation was motivated by scarce resources and the desire for a quality product, said Heather Umlah. All provinces are coping with limited resources to complete the enormous task of developing and maintaining training standards, striving to do the best by our respective Apprentices and industry partners. The main work of the Atlantic Standards Partnership (ASP) is the development and maintenance of technical (in-school) training standards. An overview was given of the CCDA and the National Occupational Analyses and this in turn related to the Atlantic Provinces Standards Development Project. The National Occupational Analysis is the starting point from which a draft training standard is developed. Standards are then validated by industry in each province before being packaged for provincial delivery. The key to success of the project, she said, is cooperation with industry on both a national and provincial level. Practitioners rather than managers must drive the process. A common format, has been developed for the Record of Occupational Progress (Log Book) for each trade within the Project, also based upon the tasks contained in the National Occupational Analysis and validated through industry.

Although each province has its own needs, ASP gives a common base for planning and producing Standards. Each trade has a host province who leads and administers the process for that trade. A particular province can drive the process for a trade of local importance or urgency. NOA provides a common reference for defining the scope of the trade and identifying the groups and tasks performed. It identifies commonalities, providing the basis for delivery of common core training for Red Seal operations. For example, NOA defines how much time is spent per task. NOA is the basis for inter-provincial examination specifications. NOA identifies: • blocks (major areas of the trade) • tasks (broad competency statements) • sub-tasks (distinct activities necessary to complete a task) • supporting knowledge and abilities that clarify the requirements of the sub-task. NOA provides a table of specifications for the examination management system, said Umlah, allowing for examination items that are based upon sub-tasks. It also defines Progress Record Books, the trade description that will be used by all stakeholders for examination items and curriculum standards. Although the curriculum development process is time-consuming, said Ms. Umlah, it is necessary to increase skill levels in the trade. Since standards development is difficult, the product could be improved with cooperation. Host provinces can drive a process for a particular trade of local importance. Each trade has a host province.

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Although each province has its own needs, ASP gives a common base for planning and facilitates the movement of apprentices. ASP provides a framework for provincial delivery plans by: • defining common minimum content for technical training, to which provinces may add • establishing agreed units of training for common content (courses differ, but the curriculum units are common) • defining outcomes for common content • establishing a common minimum content for Log Books There are many things that Atlantic Apprenticeship Standards (AAS) do not do, said Ms. Umlah. For example, they do not override trade regulations, replace detailed provincial plans or prescriptions for training, limit the content of a provincial training program nor dictate delivery modes, sequencing or methodology. In Nova Scotia, Apprenticeship programs have a 30-hour course base; other provinces have longer courses or a block system where many units are delivered together and front-end loaded. Provinces sometimes build on Atlantic Standards to meet local needs. For example, Nova Scotia includes shipbuilding courses in the Welder/Fabricator trade, although they are not necessarily delivered elsewhere. Provinces have their own specifications for initial Safety training although safety is to be covered in every course within the Atlantic Standards. For technical standards, the host province for the trade undertakes several responsibilities. First they must produce an initial draft, then facilitate the

Atlantic Standards Workshop, produce and circulate the resulting draft, tack suggestions for change and subsequent changes and issue the final document once approved. Ms. Umlah identified four steps for drafting standards that are used by the host province subject matter expert and the curriculum consultant. First, the trade’s NOA is reviewed by the standards drafting team. Then logical units of instruction are identified before suggesting draft outcomes. Theoretical content is also examined, finally knowledge and skills required to meet outcomes are detailed. Industry and faculty representatives from each province and the Atlantic Apprenticeship Workgroup come together at the Standards Development Workshop. Skilled tradespeople with current knowledge and a good technical background are an essential ingredient. The workshop is held over two to three days, during which outcomes, content, terminology, detail and prerequisites are discussed at length. After the Atlantic standards workshop, the host prepares and circulates standards for wider validation by industry. Each province has developed a particular way of consulting experts in industry, Umlah said. Recommendations for change are submitted via action reports and a final draft is prepared. The host province replies to action reports, which are circulated with revised drafts. These replies need to include reasons for adopting or not adopting each change that is recommended After the workgroup members are satisfied that the Atlantic Directors of Apprenticeship approve and the standards have been validated by industry, the Atlantic Directors of Apprenticeship approve the

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new standards. Work group members from each province sign off, and the directors note standard approval in the minutes. The workgroup has also developed a Record of Occupational Progress (ROP). Designed to replace the traditional Log Book, the ROP records technical training units, courses and grades as well as tasks performed and rated and hours worked in the occupation. Ms. Umlah presented a sample page from the Technical Training section of the ROP. The course, content and hours spent in class are included, giving apprentices a clear idea of where they stand in the training system. The two-step rating system must show that the apprentice performed certain tasks and if industry standards have been met. The Apprentice initials a task completed and the Journeyperson rates the performance. When a supervising, a journey-person signs off on a task as being completed to acceptable industry standards, the journey-person must record his or her certificate of qualification number in the book. The employer signs off on blocks of tasks to verify that the skills training has taken place. The ROP designates skills as mandatory or optional. Mandatory skills must be signed off by a qualified journey-person as meeting industry standards. Work group members have stakeholders from each province review tasks to designate which are mandatory and also to indicate whether a task needs to be sub-divided and signed off in more detail. ASP also revises standards, said Ms. Umlah. The host province collects comments and engages in an ongoing review. Action Reports facilitate this

process by directing people to where changes have been made. Standards are scheduled for review every three years and revised standards are validated by industry in each province. Consistency within and across documents is important but challenging, said Ms. Umlah. People create their own interpretations to explain inconsistencies in formatting and language. Changes in software and software formats also present challenges, as do changes in work group membership because new members can be very frustrated if the reasons and meaning behind Atlantic practice does not seem clear or logical. Therefore, she said, ASP is creating a handbook that will describe the practices and also the rationale behind them, document changes in our own formats and practices. Packaging ASP outcomes for delivery presents a challenge because expectations of stakeholders in each province can vary as do the delivery systems. Lastly, said Ms. Umlah, lack of resources presents a challenge to ASP activities. Do the Atlantic Provinces have a draft of all trades? No, said Ms. Umlah, automotive trades have a draft standard. Eight or nine trades are approved, and many more are in the final draft stage. If a trade has standards, but the province doesn’t have the market size to sustain the training program, does ASP have agreements to cooperate with the host province. Yes, said Ms. Umlah.

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Are the Record of Progress books part of a formal process? In some provinces yes, apprenticeship progress is tracked through the ROP and entered into a database in NS, and since the book is produced in-house, said Umlah, we could, for example, replace lost or misplaced books. Can apprentices move from province to province, starting their training in one and completing it in another? Yes, said Ms. Umlah, although moves in some trades into some provinces are easier to make than others.

Your model does not concentrate on training institutions, noted a participant. Why does it focus only on standards? Common standards are set by the ASP. A variety of different learning materials and delivery modes can be used to achieve the standards. In Nova Scotia, for example, the learning materials would likely be different depending on whether you are participating in six weeks of classroom training or working at home on-line. We have produced some original material including video footage for our Oil Burner Mechanic program, but where possible we make use of good resources available, such as those coming out of Alberta these days.

How has ASP handled regional differences with specific skills?

Industry is concerned that apprenticeships are sometimes taught on obsolete equipment. Is there funding to remedy this problem?

ASP defines only minimum content so the province can include any additional units.

That is a delivery issue, said Umlah, which means that it falls under provincial jurisdiction.

What if your community only has need for a small trade, asked a participant. How can training happen without local industry?

Journeypersons sign off to certify training, said a participant. Do instructors also sign off?

Ms. Umlah said that colleges and organized labour provide courses for small communities. How do sector councils participate in Nova Scotia? They participate in focus groups, said Umlah. They also validate curriculum standards and the Record of Occupational Progress.

In Nova Scotia, said Ms.Umlah, occasionally in a trade such as Ironworker technical training is available but full work experience must be found outside of the province. In this case, the instructor signs off, she said. New Brunswick agreed that this was their practice also. An instructor signing off would be the exception rather than the rule.

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Increasing the Success Rate of the In-School Component of the Apprenticeship Training Plan

Most in-school programs are six to eight weeks, and in this compressed timeframe, it is very difficult to discover a LD problem and take steps to assist the students.

Robert McEwan, Learning Disabilities Specialist, Millennium Centre

Mr. Cameron then discussed some of the barriers to success for LD students. Many programs are male-dominated, and males are traditionally more reluctant to ask for help. There is also stigma attached to acknowledging that you have a learning disability (or learning difficulties) and asking for help.

Rod Cameron, Chair, Motive Power Technology Division, Fanshawe College Walt Van Boven, Professor, Motive Power Technology Division, Fanshawe College Two of the issues facing colleges that make it important that they take into account the needs of learning disabled (LD) students, said Rod Cameron. First, provincial ministries evaluate colleges based on their student completion rate. Second, the market for training dollars is much more competitive than it was, and it is important for colleges to attract large numbers of students. Faculty must become increasingly sensitive to LD students and colleges must work to increase the quality of services—and thereby increase the success rate—for these students. Mr. Cameron discussed the need for a shift in attitude. Educators are not gatekeepers. They are there to provide students with training, not licensing. Faculty also need to be sensitive to the challenges specific to certain trades. Students in some trades, such as automotive power, will need to learn complex theoretical concepts such as electricity and hydraulics, which may pose problems to LD students. On the other hand, students in cooking programs, for example, may not have to grapple with the same level of theory.

Bob McEwan then talked about the types of services offered to LD students. In 1998, through funding provided by the Learning Opportunities Task Force (LOTF) of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Fanshawe College began a research project designed to explore alternative methods of delivering support services to college students with learning disabilities. Initially, the Fanshawe project used a traditional model of service delivery, whereby students referred themselves to the counselling office for extra assistance. This approach was not successful for those students in apprentice programs, as only four to five students sought assistance in the first two years. With assistance from a provincial grant, the counsellors then looked at ways they could change the program. Because the professors had credibility with the students, Fanshawe College encouraged professors to seek out students that were having difficulties in their programs and linking them to the support that was available: in essence, just-in-time counselling. They have also encouraged students to make extensive use of technology in school and at

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home to compensate for learning difficulties and/or unique learning styles. Many LD students, for example, have very strong spatial skills and prefer a hands-on approach to learning. These students have difficulty with textbook-based learning. The result has been the realization that if you provide a service that meets people’s needs, they will make use of—and benefit from—the service. In the first year, they had 54 students from apprenticeship programs seek additional help and this year they will have close to 100. In terms of success, the numbers tell the story. The basic level of the electrical division had a fail rate of 23%; after the program, they had a fail rate of 5%. Walt Van Boven then discussed some of the technology that is available to help LD learners. Most of this technology is widely available at a low cost. Many LD students are non-readers, but they understand the concepts and material if it is spoken to them. The Text to Voice Kurzweil 3000 is a software program that scans text and then reads it back. The look and formatting of the source material is maintained once it is scanned, something that is often lost with other programs. Walt presented an example from the 1700-page textbook Automotive Technology. Students can highlight text, attach a note with supplementary information, incorporate “yellow sticky” notes, write notes right on the screen or add a 15-second voice note to the page. All written material is read back to the student. Fanshawe College lends this software to LD students for the eight-week period of the course.

Mr. Van Boven then talked about other programs. For translating Voice to Text, the college uses Dragon Naturally Speaking, which enables students to dictate tests or reports to the computer and have their words displayed on screen. Another useful program is Word Q, a screen reader/word predictor program that reads information from the Internet and other sources. It can also be used as a proof-reader for reports. Other adaptive devices include Franklin Language Master, for word predictions, definitions, etc.; Pocket Reader, a hand scanner that enables you to scan text, download it to your PC and have it read by Word Q; the Quictionary Reading Pen, a hand scanner that will read a word or sentence out loud; a Palm Pilot, to assist with organizational skills and time management; and Road Runner, which will hold 2000 pages of printed information which can then be read back. Fanshawe also hired someone to compile pointform “Coles notes” on a 1500-page automotive text. These notes are made available to students on the college’s Web site. The College now asks on the registration form whether students have physical or learning disabilities. Students can then be contacted on the first or second day and instructors in the student’s division can take on mentoring/coaching roles to help the students find the technology and solutions that will meet their learning needs. Tutoring is also available, and both peer tutoring and tutoring by staff members are offered at various times during the session.

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Other accommodations for LD students include taped textbooks, loaned computers for the Kurzweil and Dragon programs, increased time on tests and exams, taped tests and exams, and a reader or scribe for tests.

How does industry accept LD students who rely on adaptive devices?

How are students taught to read and write, since this skill seems to be lacking in many of these students?

The law is on the side of the student: according to the human rights code, they can’t be discriminated against. Students can purchase the adaptive devices for use on the job, and employers can sometimes get funding to offer these devices and technologies to their employees. Attaining emotional acceptance is sometimes more difficult.

Panel members responded that there is a lack of literacy skills, but the point is to find a way around it by facilitating ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge.

Have requests for modifications to the interprovincial exams have been granted to LD students?

What about funding? The Ontario provincial government originally funded the Millennium project ($1.2 million over five years) but this funding is no longer in place. Panel members believe they have come a long way toward creating a sustainable program and they will be going to HRDC and the provincial government to build a financial case for ongoing funding. One participant noted students in her province must pass an assessment test to enter certain programs. Many LD students are unable to pass the test because they have a hands-on learning approach or have literacy issues.

Ministry offices are apparently now providing extra time, readers or scribes to students who have proven learning disabilities. What about employment rates of LD students from the program? This has not been tracked specifically for LD students, but more generally, panel members commented that few students come back to them saying that they couldn’t find employment. Many have been liberated by these devices and have had a real boost of confidence, as this is the first time someone has given them the ability to read.

Panel members replied that in Ontario you are not allowed to use assessment tests to determine entry into a program.

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Economic Development in a Rural Region through Innovative Apprenticeship Charles Parker, Director of Culinary Careers, Lethbridge Community College An innovative apprenticeship program for chefs and cooks, designed in cooperation with restaurateurs and the Alberta apprenticeship board, allows students to attend training classes once a week at Lethbridge Community College. Charles Parker, director of the program and a former executive chef, explained that in 1992/93, a meeting with representatives from the college, the hospitality industry and the local apprenticeship office eventually resulted in a new form of weekly training that has 30 students, 10 in each of three levels, attend classes either on Thursdays, Wednesdays or Tuesdays. They accumulate 40 days’ training in all. To accommodate these weekly students, the college converted its apprenticeship curriculum to a module format, and delivers self-marking tests via a web-based testing platform. This allows students to review their lessons when they are not at college. Lethbridge Community College also hosts an annual apprenticeship cook-off, which is a huge attraction for students. Part of the initiative for the new program—known as Weekly Apprenticeship Training, or WAT— came from Richard Daley of Earl’s Restaurants. He had opened a restaurant in Lethbridge and wanted to send his staff for training and upgrading. But he and other restaurateurs in the area did not want to release employees for a period of eight to 10 weeks,

especially as there was no guarantee they would return to work. Daley has since found that his staff who attend LCC weekly can practice their newfound skills at work. Six or seven students who have finished the WAT program remain working in his kitchen. WAT Students come from varied backgrounds: for example, hospitals, hotels, nursing homes and restaurants. For them, the program means they can attend classes, keep their jobs and not have to relocate. (Some come from communities as far as two hours’ drive from Lethbridge. While there is no help with travel costs, scholarships are available.) Where instructor Rob Sonnenburg once taught just one level of students, he now teaches three levels, with between 10 and 12 students in each level. He writes regular reports to the students’ employers and also visits them. The curriculum includes a lab component that covers all the practical aspects, as well as selfguided modules that can be done at home. Students can work at their own pace. Can WAT students access EI? No, said Mr. Parker. This is not available for WAT students as it might be for students in a traditional eight- or ten-week program. What about cost recovery for the program? Some students work in the campus cafeteria, which allows some cost recovery. However, students will only work in the cafeteria if their curriculum requires this type of experience.

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The challenges of putting such a program together included getting enough apprentices signed up initially, said Parker, and convincing employers to give one day off each week to would-be students. Especially suitable for small operations, similar once-a-week programs are offered in cabinetry, heavy equipment and baking.

About 70% of WAT students at LCC would be unable to attend a traditional block apprenticeship program. This does not mean a WAT-style program would be successful everywhere; one was tried at Northern Alberta Technical College, but was not successful. What about distance support?

How many WAT students leave their jobs in the community once they’ve completed the program? About 20% of students who complete the WAT program “move to the big city” to pursue better opportunities, Mr. Parker said. The WAT program is a success because of industry commitment, an enthusiastic and flexible faculty, interested students and a cooperative apprenticeship board.

There are computer tutorials for each module, and if students cannot attend class because of weather or other problems, the instructor can be reached by e-mail. What about PLAR? The Alberta apprenticeship board performs these assessments.

How does cost for the WAT program compare with other models? Parker said the WAT model is much cheaper for students than the standard block model. For the college, however, the cost is not significantly different. There is little need for a wage recovery program because WAT students are working and earning full-time.

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Careers: The Next Generation Mr. Mel Giles, Project Director, Careers: The Next Generation Mr. Jerry Heck, Managing Director, Careers: The Next Generation Careers is “not about an idea but is about working with youth,” said Jerry Heck. The project began with a mandate to work with youth in Alberta, although he and Giles have had numerous opportunities to make presentations and been asked to work in other parts of Canada and abroad. However, he said, “We’ve got our treasure-full in Alberta.” Careers is a non-profit organization with a board two-thirds of private industry members, one-third of government representatives, a vision of “working with communities” and a mission to guide youth into trade pathways. The project came out of a skills and education project conducted between 1989 and 1994 in 14 Alberta communities. The resulting reports identified the need for partnerships, uncertainties felt by youth and an anxious industry asking, “Where are my future workers going to come from?” The Alberta Chamber of Resources financed the pilot stage of Careers. In January 1997, Careers became incorporated as a non-profit organization. “It has been moving forward ever since,” said Heck. Its primary focus has been to help communities mobilize around youth and trades, and transferring skills from an aging population to youth. The common tale of a child coming home from school and asking, “Why do I have to take

this anyway?” raises the issue of how to make the curriculum “come alive.” Applied learning can often be a way to do this. In 1997, Careers was in 16 schools, most within one community. In 2001, they were invited into 187 schools in 118 communities across Alberta. Given that, “We don’t go into a school unless we’re invited in,” said Mr. Heck, this is an indication of their success. A key part of Careers’ work is to motivate youth. Statistics estimate up to two-thirds of future work will not require a Bachelor’s degree, yet traditional career pathways point youth towards university degrees. The challenge for Careers is to make the offer of another pathway into the trades attractive. The first recruitment opportunity for most industries is Grade 10, but Mr. Heck said recruitment could start closer to Grades 7 or 8. The challenge for employers is not to find “bodies, but to find youth with the skills base they are looking for.” Heck said they concluded that, “The answer is in growing them.” He said employers require workers with qualities such as showing up on time, yet statistics show that up to 15% of youth do not even attend classes. The question then becomes, “How are we to grow that kind of attitude and how to make youth become more aware of what these qualities are?” Mel Giles said results show that youth make more informed choices as a result of information from Careers. He said the presentation would highlight RAP (the Registered Apprentice Program) and three successful applications, in Nova Quinn, Bursary Labour, and with the Calgary Truck Dealers’ Association.

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In the schools, Careers impresses upon youth three main issues: the importance of focusing with an end in mind and the importance of first steps in this process, employability skills and how students can earn while they learn. While the average youth between 16 and 26 years with a high school diploma wants a pathway that includes full-time pay with benefits, most youth make an average of three career changes within the first three to seven years after graduation. Careers talks to students about what employers are looking for: rounded students with good grades, social skills, responsible behaviour and peoplemanagement and teamwork skills. They also discuss various opportunities in the trades, from construction, electrical, metal and pipe to service and vehicle/mechanical. The fact that the latter “catches the eye the most” shows a need to raise awareness. RAP offers students 40 of the 100 credits required in Alberta to graduate, said Giles. Five credits are allotted per 125 hours worked, in addition to which students are paid at least minimum wages. Once youth express interest, a process of selection begins. Students are assessed for the required skills, with “commitment” being an important criterion, Giles noted. Students are cautioned that RAP involves hard work on two fronts—school and work—and therefore “is not an easy way to get your high school diploma.” Once recommended, students take a series of workshops, one of which requires the involvement of parents. They begin with a 125-hour internship in the summer at Grade 10 level. This is a time for

the employer to assess the reliability of the student. “It is essentially a 125-hour behavioural interview,” Mr. Giles said. Career’s function is not just to recruit, said Giles, but also to give students another option. RAP graduates also get their high school diplomas and are encouraged to continue their apprenticeship but they can also choose to pursue studies at universities or to attend a technical school. In the last year, Careers placed 785 students with 593 employers, indicating that some employers take more than one student at a time. While mechanical and vehicle trades get the most attention from students, Careers will attempt to increase awareness of pipe and industrial trades and raise participation in construction trades. In the example of Quinn Nova, it is estimated that up to 90% of pipefitters could retire in the next few years, taking extensive knowledge and skills with them. Careers’ program with Red Deer College involved 10 youth from three high schools. The students attended school in the mornings and worked in the afternoons to complete a 120-hour work component. After graduation, all 10 will be entered into Red Deer College to complete the final 120 hours. Successful completion will result in jobs at Quinn Nova. Another project involves the Alberta Unionized RAP Continuing Education Trust Fund, where apprenticing students are paid $9 per hour. A bursary fund for the youth collects $3 per hour worked, which can be accessed by students upon high school graduation for any training they wish to pursue.

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In a project with the Calgary Truck Dealers Association, students are prepped from Grade 7, required to take academic components in Grade 11, then serve a 120-hour internship in Grade 12 which can be completed either over one semester off school or by working half-day school-work shifts. After graduation, students are fast-tracked through the rest of the apprenticeship program.

1000 employers and reach 25,000 students. Positive outcomes include better prepared and informed youth, skilled and motivated workers, improved cross-community relations “and strong vibrant communities. And that’s what it’s all about because, in short, we’re most interested in making a difference,” said Giles.

Mr. Heck explained that Careers does not see itself as a group doing work for the community but as a community catalyst. This entails maintaining a balance between industry’s urgency to move ahead and the slow process to build community consensus. “The gateway to the future of this program” will be to “to find the champions in the classroom” and get educators on board. The community should lead the process, which may be a slow and frustrating process. Other recommendations include finding an experienced change agent to take leadership, and holding celebrations, such as RAP Recognition nights. Financial resources can present a huge barrier. Major causes of failure, said Giles, include poor organization, inadequate appreciation of the importance of process, lack of vision, expectations of quick fixes, champions coming and going, weak leadership, loss of senses of urgency and loss of motivation. But the highly successful models at Quinn Nova and Fort McMurray and the fact that 126 schools now participate in RAP is cause for satisfaction. An evaluation survey showed that 90% of interns, 92% of employers, 95% of parents and 100% of teachers expressed satisfaction with RAP. Estimates for 2001-2002 project that Careers will be in 225 schools in 124 communities, work with

Is technical training offered as part of the regular high school curricula in Alberta’s schools? A strong technical program is available in the school curriculum but not at all schools, said Mr. Heck. What about the impact on teacher credentials of credits being given by non-qualified “teachers” in the field? Mr. Heck responded that teachers are part of the process and do the evaluations and that credits are still administered by the schools. What role do parents play in the program? Eighty per cent of parents involved tend to be mothers and 20% are fathers, said Mr. Heck, adding that, “Parents are strong gatekeepers and need to be integral to the process.” A participant suggested Careers could look at RAP as a way of involving potential “drop-out youth,” whose truancy is often a sign of boredom with the school curriculum. “Give them a job and they would probably get focused,” she said. Another participant responded, saying that as an employer,

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he knows most employers do not want kids who are on the drop-out track. “We are not a social service agency. We want the best kids possible.” Another participant said that it is important to remember that “if students drop out of high school, they’re out” of the internship program. If Careers accesses 25,000 students this year and only 1,000 will intern, can that be considered making a change or is it simply an example of a project whose potential is yet to be reached? RAP is a “good start,” said Heck, and industry needed something like this. However, as students don’t often make decisions to get into the trades until they’re in their early 20s, “the full impact of our success is hard to measure.”

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Career Technical Centres Kelly Knister, Career Technical Centre Coordinator, B.C. Ministry of Education George Peary, Director, Fraser Valley Career Technical Centre David Riel, Instructor, Fraser Valley Career Technical Centre Joel Feenstra, Student, Fraser Valley Career Technical Centre Mike Feenstra, Father of Student, Fraser Valley Career Technical Centre Describing CTCs as “the ultimate career pathway,” Kelly Knister said that CTCs combine high school technical training with apprenticeship training. Designed for Grade 11 and 12 students, the twoto two-and-a-half-year programs were developed collaboratively with industry so that students can go directly from school to work. Students can start as early as age 15, all their work time goes toward their graduation requirements, and they have the option of continuing their apprenticeship after graduation. The program is free and every student who maintains high standards is eligible for a $1000 scholarship. The program increases the relevance of the school system, provides an uninterrupted school-to-work transition, and saves money for students and families. Located in Abbotsford, the Fraser Valley Career Technical Centre opened in 1994 with four programs and 70 students. Today it offers 10 programs to over 400 students. Three pilot CTCs began operations in 1999 in Nanaimo, Kamloops, and Prince George. “Each one functions a little

differently,” said Knister. “The key component is partnerships between the high schools, community colleges, and businesses.” Five CTC regions began operations in 2001. The province is broken down into community college catchment areas and the schools within each catchment area are working with the colleges to create CTCs. There are now eight CTC regional locations in B.C., offering over 40 programs. “In marketing, there is no such thing as problems—only opportunities,” said George Peary. It was through such an opportunity that Fraser Valley CTC came into being. In 1993, two new secondary schools opened in the same year in Abbotsford, leaving the school with one empty older school building. The school district contacted the community college, and together they asked local employers what they wanted. “They said, ‘What we don’t want is a school like all the other schools because the people graduating from high school are virtually unemployable,’” he said. “‘They have no skills, and a bad attitude.’” Peary joined the project in the fall of 1993, taking on the jobs of figuring out what programs to offer, renovating the building, and recruiting students. After unsuccessfully approaching the Ministry of Education for funding, he found an individual in the Ministry of Advanced Education who “saw the value in what we were doing.” “My thesis was that high school students were bright enough to embark on college programs,” he said. The school now has a mix of high school and college teachers teaching high school and college students under the same roof. It is the first school

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in B.C. to offer dual-credit courses. Over Grades 11 and 12, the high school students accumulate 10 college credits. They continue studying for another six months after Grade 12 ends, finishing with their Dogwood Diploma and a trade certificate. Because their tuition and textbooks are free, they save a minimum of $2500. The school year is structured into five quarters, each 10 weeks long. The day is divided into three blocks, and most students take courses for two blocks per day. “This means they study only two subjects at one time, take their exam, and move on,” said Peary. These long periods work better for trades; students can take both blocks in the same subject and spend a whole day working on projects on or off campus. For example, one group of electrical students wired a whole camp for children with disabilities at cost, saving the Elks Club that funded it thousands of dollars. Recently, students built an addition onto the school, pouring the concrete, building the structure, and doing the wiring. “Where else would you find a school that students built?” he asked. The school saved about $50,000 on construction costs. The addition is rented to the military reserves. This generates revenue for the school and the reservists work very well with the students. As well, said Mr. Peary, if there are extra seats in classes, college students can take the courses because they are college courses. If they are over 19, they pay fees and this generates more revenue. For example, he said, “there is no electrical program at the college so if college students want to

study electrical, they do it my school.” With that he introduced David Riel, an instructor in the electrical program. Mr. Riel noted that the electrical program provides the same training to high school students that college students or apprentices would receive. However, the program in no way limits students’ choices: for many students, the program provides the background they need to choose a related field and go on to BCIT. Most students have apprentice positions before graduating. Local contractors recognize the value of this program and actively seek out Fraser Valley graduates for apprenticeships immediately upon graduating. The program is 50% theoretical and 50% practical. In B.C., there are four levels of technical training to certification. The CTC covers 100% of Level 1, 50% each of Levels 2 and 3, and 25% of Level 4. “We also augment the program with basic information on cutting-edge subjects such as fluid power, robotics, and automation,” said Mr. Riel. “These are growing fields, and the background may tweak students’ interest in these areas.” The program starts with residential wiring applications and goes on to commercial and industrial wiring. Students have done several construction projects. Noting that Fraser Valley also does apprenticeship training, Mr. Riel said, “A number of our high school students have returned to Fraser Valley and become qualified journey people. It’s very rewarding to see someone you met for the first time as a 15-year-old who didn’t know what

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he wanted, come back years later as a fully qualified electrician.” He then introduced Fraser Valley electrical student, Joel Feenstra. “Fraser Valley has given me a very positive transition between high school and a career,” said Feenstra. “It gave me the ground work and allowed me to get an apprenticeship while I was still in high school.” In the summer of 2001, Feenstra worked as an electrician wiring a new school. “It was my first time working on a construction site and it really gave me a sense of confidence.” Mr. Feenstra said that he chose electrical work because he’s never enjoyed sitting at a desk, has always enjoyed doing hands-on work, but knew he didn’t want to do anything menial. So in Grade 9, he decided that electrical work would be a good avenue for him and applied to Fraser Valley CTC. “This program allows me to get my journey status sooner, the summer work keeps money coming in and allows me to continue developing my skills over the summer, and I also get a $1000 scholarship,” he said. On the construction site, he started out just doing cleanup work but soon “passed the test or whatever” and started working as an equal with the other workers. “I got to know a lot of people and that might be useful some day,” he said. “Because of my experience there I was given several job offers and ended up working weekends throughout the winter. I learned a lot of new stuff and developed my speed and efficiency. It’s confidence building to know that when I get out of school I will have something I can do and like to do.” Even if he hadn’t liked electrical, he said, he could have

finished the program and gone on to try something else without having lost any time. He also noted that many kids need work in Grades 11 and 12, “and this work gives them a head start on their careers.” Joel’s father, Mike Feenstra, commented that it’s been rewarding for he and his wife to see their son choose a trade he likes and at which he can make a good living because it takes pressure off many other areas that will loom large in his life in the coming years, like relationships and money. “This program helps them to be self-sufficient sooner, to have confidence,” he said. “Unless he pulls the wires and grabs a hot lead himself once in a while, he’s not going to learn.” Noting that most people change occupations several times in their lives, Feenstra said that having his journey papers by the time he’s 20 will give Joel a good start in life. “This program has been awesome,” he said. “I applaud it.” In summary, Mr. Peary noted that Fraser Valley CTC is a regional magnet school; that is, it has no catchment area. More than one-third of students come from outside Abbotsford; all applicants must undergo testing in order to attend. Thus, the students are motivated and of high caliber; Joel, for example, is not only an excellent student but also participated in the junior firefighter academy (a similar joint program exists with the local police department) and won an award. CTC are also eligible to receive the Governor General’s Medal, which is not available to trade students at any other high schools.

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What other trades will Fraser Valley CTC offer in the future? “It depends where the demand is,” said Peary. A current shortage of plumbers suggests that as a possibility, while a large new hangar at Abbotsford Airport suggests that an aerospace component could help create a whole new plane repair and maintenance industry in the area, drawing aircraft from around the world. Does the Ferry Tech program still exist in B.C.? This program still exists but CTC is something more because of its collaboration with the community college, said Peary. It’s also different because colleges don’t grant credit for shop work because the teachers aren’t journey people. As well, with the advent of computers, many technical shops have been converted into computer rooms. More technical shops are needed, as are more qualified technical teachers.

How difficult is it to partner with colleges? “As long as you respect that they have no money of their own to contribute, there’s no problem,” said Mr. Peary. The Ministry of Advanced Education gives the funding to the college and the college passes it along to the CTC. Are there restrictions on what programs can be offered and how? “If the school district and the college want to work together to deliver a program,” said Mr. Peary, “it’s entirely up to them to figure out when, where, and how.”

What is the biggest stumbling block for CTCs? Money, said Mr. Peary. “We’ve been fortunate to have some supporters with the ‘field of dreams’ approach.” CTC programs should be supported because they represent cost savings to the system as well as to students.

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Diversified Human Capital: Return on Inclusion Kelly Lendsay, President, Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC) Crystal Kosa, Manager, Human Resources Strategies, AHRDCC Craig Hall, National Director, Corporate Partnership Strategies, AHRDCC Kelly Lendsay began with a story of a friend, who is a Vice-Chief of the Saskatchewan Tribal Council and has a poster in his office. The posture features a Chief who has many arrows sticking out of his back. The caption reads, “My people are behind me.” Champions are required to integrate Aboriginal people into the trades. CEOs of companies are rarely champions; rather, it is mid-level managers who implement solutions. Unfortunately, twothirds of companies who said that they would like to hire Aboriginal people do not know where to start increasing Aboriginal hiring rates. Aboriginal people take a long-term, 20-year approach, he said, reflecting a life cycle approach to human resource development planning. Creating an Aboriginal inclusion network will speed this process. As the network expands, we can share lessons learned. The purpose of the Aboriginal Inclusion Network (AIN), said Crystal Kosa, is to connect with educators, unions and employers. Aboriginal people are end-users and automatic members of the inclusion network. Other users pay to use AIN. Employers said that it was difficult to find qualified

Aboriginal labour, she said. Aboriginal Human Resource Development Associations (AHRDAs) want to partner with corporations and organizations that do not know who AHRDAs are. The inclusion network will research what other Aboriginal communities are doing well. AIN’s tools were developed in consultation with many stakeholders, said Kosa. AIN tries to connect Aboriginal community groups to each other and to link employer needs to Aboriginal hiring pools in order to accelerate Aboriginal hiring practices. AIN provides an E-Atlas of Aboriginal Employment Centres in order to help employers identify where Aboriginal labour pools are located. AIN also provides the Opportunity Exchange, which allows people to post job and training opportunities for Aboriginals on a web site. This could supplement other advertising methods. The Exchange provides a quick summary of information to create a simple job or training announcement. Users may post opportunities to specific geographic regions. Data may be used to generate reports that identify which corporations hire Aboriginal labour. The number of opportunities and responses are tracked. AIN also provides a National Aboriginal Electronic Human Resources Centre that lists Aboriginal scholarships, training opportunities, Aboriginal employment offices and institutes of higher learning. A user may search the database by sector or trade. As well, AIN allows people to showcase model practices in Aboriginal human resources on the Promising Practices portion of their web site, said Kosa. The intent is to allow people to list best practices so others may replicate their results.

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Members can post their promising practice by filling out a form, which includes contact information, lessons learned and context information. The service may be used to create a mailing list. Ms. Kosa noted that sometimes it is hard for large organizations to track the activities of its membership. The Promising Practices page could help administer large organizations. The page includes space for graphics and a logo. AIN’s Members Exchange is an electronic forum for diverse stakeholders, said Ms. Kosa. Questions with responses may be posted on the site. A poll is conducted every month on the web site. The data is collected and analyzed, and results are posted on the Web site. Lendsay noted that the Members Exchange began as an information-sharing tool to improve job fair outcomes. Kosa also noted that AIN provides an Advisory Service that is accessible via telephone or computer. The service provides answers to questions about Aboriginal inclusion, employment equity and workplace diversity. What is the cost of membership? The membership fee is scaled according to the size of the company, said Ms. Kosa. Companies with 1-100 employees pay $195, with 100-500 employees pay $495 and with more than 500 employees pay $3,000.

when the service will be unveiled to the public. AIN would like to develop support among 40 to 50 groups, before the official launch, because nobody wants to be the first to join a network. How are educators encouraged to participate? AIN offers discounts to educational institutions, community groups and non-profit organizations. Big organizations are charged $3,000 for membership, he said, but he would like to have more members at a lower price because 80% of all jobs derive from small businesses. Does AIN provide links to HRDC Human Resource Centres or community-based employment agencies? Mr. Lendsay said that AHRDAs are communitybased. Links to other agencies are provided through the web site. Kosa said that AIN is testing the system with focus groups and invited anybody who wished to participate to help at the end of June. She asked the audience to respond to AIN’s test “job opportunity” to work out the bugs with the system. May users post resumes on AIN? No, said Ms. Kosa, because the focus group process taught AIN that many resume databases already exist. Too much raw data is available, and AIN needs a focused approach.

How have you marketed your service to employers? Mr. Lendsay said that they have a five-stage marketing strategy. They will be testing the final forms for the web site from August until December 12,

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How can AIN be used to apply for work? Ms. Kosa said that the Aboriginal community may use the system to look for work. A local AHRDA technician could help a searcher operate the database. How can I help Aboriginals through my economic development centre? Ms. Kosa encouraged participants to join AIN and let Aboriginals fill out forms. A technician will create a list of qualified people or a job list for qualified applicants. Mr. Lendsay said that the Parks Canada Youth Ambassadors program wants to hire 50% Aboriginal people, especially those with backgrounds in biology. He said that AIN could help Parks Canada design their program to increase its effectiveness. AIN can help Parks Canada develop pilot projects that could be implemented through AHRDAs, said Mr. Lendsay. In that scenario, would Parks Canada be a member of AIN?

A participant noted that it is necessary to communicate with students before they become an apprentice and can no longer be solicited. Mr. Lendsay said that educational institutions and Aboriginal agreement holders connect with employers, rather than with individuals. He said that he would like to build Aboriginal Apprenticeship branches all over and connect them through a network. A participant said that the Northern Apprenticeship Commission in Saskatchewan that does that. How can Aboriginal people use the site to look for work? Ms. Kosa said that people would find work in the same way as they do now. AIN provides workshops for employers to encourage inclusion. She said that $3,000 gives access to AIN staff and tools to build an inclusive labour force. People who are looking for work will benefit from services AIN provides to employers.

Yes, said Mr. Lendsay: “pay if you want to play!”

How many corporations are members?

A participant from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) said that NAIT provides a posting service for all of its graduates. Could NAIT link AIN to its database?

Although she does not know the exact count, said Ms. Kosa, AIN has fielded many enquiries. The process could begin when an AHRDA develops a relationship with a company. If the relationship works with one AHRDA and one company, asked Mr. Lendsay, why not replicate the results across the country?

Mr. Lendsay said they should talk.

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A participant said that he has an Aboriginal preplacement training program in his company that focuses on youth. Good practices were learned from trial and error. He asked why the company should share secrets to success with competitors. “Next question!” exclaimed Mr. Lendsay, amid some chuckles. Ms. Kosa said that if a member company has a secret competitive advantage, AIN would respect their confidentiality. Large corporations could benefit from AIN membership because different departments can use the service to orchestrate their activities. Lendsay said that new ideas have a shelf life of approximately 12 months. Corporations need to ask themselves what they are willing to share before and after this 12-month period. Are there benefits of scale from sharing information? Hall said that deciding how much to share was part of “competition.” Mr. Lendsay added that if a company waits too long to post the information, another company might document the idea first and receive credit for it. Lendsay argued that if industry could cooperate to increase the quantity of trained trades people, then they could compete for graduates in an enlarged labour pool. A participant noted that there were diamond mines in the North West Territories. Sharing ideas immediately builds the company’s reputation. For example, a company could guarantee all students a job when they graduate from the program. This would build their reputation as an Aboriginal-

friendly trainer, building loyalty and respect over the long-term. People prefer to work for “good” companies, he said. Mr. Lendsay said that AIN helps companies change management practices to maximize Aboriginal labour productivity. Does AIN’s database record whether people stay on the job after they have been hired? Ms. Kosa said that they would like to track this three, six, nine and 12 months after hiring. A participant said that it was necessary to record why people quit the program or company. Lendsay said that, when someone leaves a job, sometimes it is because they are moving on to better work. It is important to know if they quit for a good reason or due to systemic barriers. Even if someone thinks that they operate a good work site, if you ask them if they would like their daughter to work there, they look at their work site differently. How well does AIN maintain their Web site? Ms. Kosa said that they hired a full-time staff person to maintain the web site. Mr. Lendsay said that focus group results indicated that maintenance was very important. A participant suggested that new initiatives need success stories for all stakeholders on the web site. “Success stories give people hope,” he said.

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Skills Shortages and Apprenticeship Training in the Manufacturing and Construction Sectors: Research Findings from the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) Derwyn Sangster, Director of Business, Canadian Labour and Business Centre Clarence Lochhead, Senior Researcher, Canadian Labour and Business Centre Derwyn Sangster described the Canadian Labour and Business Centre as a national, not-for-profit research and policy organization created in 1984. Its mission is to improve business and labour practices and to provide public policy advice on labour market and skills issues. A multipartite board made up of government, business, education and labour leaders governs the Centre. Some of the issues it investigates include human resources (education and training), the changing nature of work, investment in the new economy and access to capital, and labour management relations. Mr. Sangster said that key factors in the skills shortage issue are Canada’s aging population, trends to earlier retirement, slower labour force growth and international competition for skills. The Centre conducts a survey every two years called the Viewpoint Survey. This provides a snapshot of leaders’ perceptions on a range of social, economic, demographic, health and workplace issues. Approximately 50% of private and public sector managers see skill shortages as a significant problem, and this number increases to 60% for

private and public sector labour leaders. In 1996, on the other hand, the skills shortage issue was not perceived as a major issue. Statistics show that while there has been an increase in the number of registrations in apprenticeship programs since 1977, there has been no increase in the number of completions, which has remained remarkably constant. Among the issues facing apprenticeships are the negative image of the trades with students and parents, poor links between schools and apprenticeships, the cyclical nature of apprenticeships, the length of time required to complete an apprenticeship and the need to sell apprenticeship to employers. The value of apprenticeship needs to be promoted to employers. This could best be achieved by making a business case for apprenticeship and training, and linking this to a business’s profitability and overall performance. Mr. Sangster then introduced the main features of the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES), conducted by Statistics Canada. First completed in 1999, the WES links 24,600 employees to 6,400 work locations. Firms will be interviewed every four years and employees every two years. Questions for workplaces include sector, size, growth, employment, HR and training practices, unionization, etc. The employee questions focus on age, gender, occupation, training received, work arrangements, etc. Of particular interest are questions regarding a firm’s sponsorship of various kinds of training, changes in a firm’s performance (based on the criteria of customer satisfaction,

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quality, productivity, sales growth, production costs, and profitability) and a firm’s employee vacancy rates. The Canadian Labour and Business Centre believes that the data generated by the survey will be very useful in determining whether a firm’s training efforts are reflected in measures of workplace performance and success in filling vacancies. For the purpose of this presentation, they have looked at data from the construction and manufacturing industries, 1,000 and 1,300 firms respectively. Clarence Lochhead then presented an analysis of WES, looking at the number and percentage of firms that provide apprenticeship training, the factors affecting the incidence of apprenticeship training, and the relationship between apprenticeship training and business performance. In the survey, “training” was defined to include all types of training to develop employee skills or knowledge through a structured format (including both classroom and on-the-job training, was paid for by the employer and occurred during a specified oneyear period. Forty per cent of manufacturing and 57% of construction firms did not provide training. Thirty-nine per cent of manufacturing and 23% of construction firms provided some sort of training, but not apprenticeship, and 21% of manufacturing firms and 20% of construction firms provided training that included apprenticeship. There were some variations from region to region. Atlantic Canada had the lowest incidence of firms providing training with apprenticeship (12% for manufacturing

and nine percent for construction) and Quebec had the highest rate of apprenticeship training in the manufacturing industry (26%) while Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the highest for the construction industry (25%). Variation was also seen depending on the number of employee in a firm, with firms of more than 100 employees having higher rates of apprenticeship training (over 50%) compared to firms with under 20 employees (between 14 and 18%). Most firms in these industries are smaller—with 70% of manufacturing firms and 93% of construction firms having less than 20 employees. Apprenticeship training also depended on the number of full-time technical/trades employees. Seventy-seven per cent of firms with more than 20 employees in the full-time trades provided apprenticeship training, compared with only 14% that had five or fewer employees with these characteristics. Union status also affected a firm’s likelihood of providing training. Clarence suggested that these statistics are useful because they give us a snapshot of the types of firms that it would benefit from a targeted promotion of the importance of training and apprenticeship programs. He then looked at job vacancies and asked whether the WES data could help identify which HR practices enable some firms to avoid skills shortages. Six per cent of manufacturing firms surveyed had long-term vacancies in technical or trade positions. These firms claimed that they were unable to fill these positions because applicants lacked job experience, there were too few applicants, or most

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applicants lacked the required education. Most firms that offer apprenticeship training do not have long-term vacancies. Clarence then presented data linking firm performance with training activity in the manufacturing industry. Across the board, firms that provided apprenticeship training beat out firms that provided only training or no training, for the indicators of decreased unit costs and increased customer satisfaction, productivity, sales growth, product quality, and profitability. Companies who provide apprenticeship training have a definite competitive advantage.

How were “skills” defined in the survey? Did this refer to skilled trades or overall skills? Panel members clarified that “skills” was used generally. An audience member asked whether the skill shortages were real or imagined. Panel members responded that the issues are real. In the Canadian Labour and Business Centre’s Viewpoint survey, labour and business leaders felt very strongly that there is a serious shortage of skills in Canada.

It may be possible to conclude that firms that offer apprenticeship training have a culture of training and innovation that makes them more likely to succeed. The research findings suggest a strong business case for apprenticeship training. In summary, WES is valuable because it includes data from both employees and firms and because it is longitudinal. It has strong research potential in many areas, although it is weaker as a monitoring tool because of the time lag of when the results are available: they are just now looking at the 1999 data. One audience member commented that this information is a fabulous start. Panel members reaffirmed that the survey is broad in scope and they’re not sure of how far they can “drill down” to get very specific information.

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12 Success Factors—The Career Resource Life Cycle Jacques Pelletier, Executive Director, Canada Career Connection Jennifer Steeves, Project Manager, Canadian Automotive Repair & Service Council Jacques Pelletier and Jennifer Steeves introduced the CARS Career Awareness Project, “The Future is Wide Open. It includes resources for young people, educators, and automotive service employers and employees, designed to increase awareness of industry careers and to encourage young people to consider the industry as a viable career option. CARS utilized information in the CCC research report “12 Success Factors – The Career Resource Life Cycle” throughout the development of the resources. Mr. Pelletier explained that the Canada Career Connection (CCC) is a national organization whose membership represents the various constituencies involved in career development and labour market information. The CCC’s main focus is to establish exemplary practices with its members and other stakeholders when it comes to the development of career resources and delivery information. Its objectives incude: • • • •

creating strategic alliances and partnerships increasing membership developing and delivering on-going products identifying issues and gaps in service, and doing research • operating an office to advance the above

Ms. Steeves provided an overview of several projects the Canadian Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) Council has undertaken to address human resource challenges in the industry. These include a workplace mentor/coach program, a skills-gap project, an accreditation program, business-management training and interactive distance learning offered to industry and community college faculty. As a first step to the Career Awareness Project, the CARS Council examined human resources issues in the industry. It is a vast industry and offers a wealth of opportunity: more than 16 million vehicles operate on Canadian roads today. The fact that only a very small percentage of the workforce is under 25 years of age was the most telling piece of information gathered. CARS needed to explore the question, “Why aren’t more young people coming into our industry?” Therefore, a second research piece was completed to gain a better understanding of what influences young people’s career decisions and what current information about the industry was available to them. Following this process, the CARS Council began a career awareness project by appointing an advisory committee, hiring contractors who involved youth in the development of products and asking focus groups to review draft material at several stages throughout development. The CARS Council referred to the sectoral marketing research developed by CCC to gain information about the importance of the end user in the development of career resources and to

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better understand provincial protocols and processes regarding the distribution of career resources to schools. The information package consists of a poster, a spiral-bound student Reference Guide on 45 industry occupations, an Educators’ guide for Grades 8 and 9, and an Industry Presentation Guide. A Web site and CD ROM were also developed. Mr. Pelletier reported that the Sectoral Marketing research (SMR) involved various stakeholders, including end users of career information. The research recommendations indicated that 12 key factors need to be recognized when undertaking research projects such as CARS. They included: • user needs • curriculum fit • target audience(s) • people, relationships and partners; direct contact with audience is vital • quality vs. quantity; don’t try to do too much • sensitivities re geography, culture, economic circumstances, etc • sensitivities re processes and protocols in different jurisdictions • credibility, reputation, association and word-ofmouth (created by who you get involved in your project) • time (to review, prepare and use the resource; career resources have lifespan of between 24 and 36 months)

• • • •

technology (not everyone has access to the web) engaging youth implementation support to users evaluation, assessment and accountability

The interactive part of the presentation focused on participants breaking into small groups. Each group was given a component of the CARS Career Information package to review, and asked to identify how well the 12 key factors as above had been applied. Feedback ranged from the quality of writing and photography, to the layout and lack of colour on the inside pages of the student handbook. Some concerns were expressed that there were no youth representation on the advisory committee. However, it was noted that CARS did involve all stakeholders during the focus testing stages of the various resources developed.

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A Review of National Standards and the Labour Market, with particular focus on establishing National Standards for Operating Engineers

workers who cannot find work,” he said. “If we can cut employment by just one per cent, it would reduce the shortage by up to 10,000 jobs.” This is why mobility between provinces is a good way to think about the need for skills in the labour force.

Bill Empey, Prism Economics and Analysis

Empey also examined the issue of mobility across equipment, citing Quebec as an example. In that province, half the operating engineers work on just one kind of operating equipment, while one-third are qualified in four types. One-third of those who work at one kind of equipment are apprenticing to work on other types. Thus, there is room for mobility of workers across areas of work. By contrast in other provinces, the opposite is happening and workers are being encouraged to acquire skills in narrower ways. He said this is not a positive development, noting that certified workers tend to use the breadth of their skills to look for jobs. He admitted there is some debate around this issue.

Noting that participants included operating engineers and involved players in the project, Empey said, “I’ll be preaching to the converted and won’t have to worry about dissent.” He noted however that he would like some dissent because “we will need to understand the dissension” that is a trend of the issue of national standards. This National Standards project has two components, said Empey: national occupational standards (the focus of his presentation) and national training guidelines to set standards consistent with provincial practices and occupational standards. Empey noted that the four dimensions of the future needs of all trades include increasing demand for trades to fill new jobs, the need to fill a rising demand for replacement labour, the need for new technological skills building and the need to increase the propensity of certified workers in the trades. He identified a national objective as doubling the number of apprentices in the systems, which means, “we’re talking about bringing in 15,000 to 20,000 new apprentices.” He asked participants to envision about one million people working in the trades in Canada. Unemployment rates in trades at peak activity vary from an estimated 16% in Atlantic Canada to five per cent in Alberta. “The message here is the labour market leaves pockets of

What distinguishes National Occupational Standards is that it looks at the scope of work of specific kinds of trade in new ways, including looking at the impact of new technologies and mobility of workers with different skills. Basic findings are that this is an important study as it can help improve all trades. As well, the cost of training operating engineers is expensive and some sharing may be possible. National Standards would facilitate mobility for workers, recruit for employers, and result in improved curricula for training. Mr. Empey went on to describe the specifics of the case study of operating engineers, citing the various phases. Phase I looked at an inventory of regulations, designations and training, Phase II at

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National Occupational Standards, Phase III at national training and assessment tools, and Phase IV at the development of national infrastructure to share research development and occupational costs, among others. The case study focused on groups of equipment, such as crane and hoisting operators, heavy equipment operators, industrial operators and so on. The inventory identified more than 30 types of equipment, more than 300 ways to get training and 20 different training institutions. Looking at training opportunities alone was such a complex task that it is in itself an obstacle to mobility. When looking at designations, Empey said he found a wide range existed, from compulsory to voluntary to none at all. As well, there were wide ranges in health and safety designations and different combinations of equipment designations in different provinces. For example, 37 different designations exist for mobile crane operators in Canada, of which 20 are compulsory and 17 are voluntary. To qualify for a Red Seal to operate equipment across provinces, one must qualify in almost every kind of crane. “The same kind of baffling inequities” exist in heavy equipment designations in Ontario and excavator operators in B.C., he said, concluding that the system of designations is massive, complex therefore in itself a barrier to mobility between provinces. Costs of training also pose barriers to entry to the market. Partnerships in training are a strategic response to dealing with this problem and are being forged between owners and training institutions, provinces and joint training trusts, suppliers

and trainers, among others. High costs also force trainers to compete with each other for students, causing instability in the market as short-term private training programs attract students away. He saw the case study as raising several implications for the labour market and for trainers, including that the fact that complex and costly systems of training and designations limits the mobility and growth of skilled labour. Meanwhile the demographics show that an aging workforce is concentrated in key equipment areas, such as cranes and graders, making these flaws in the systems potentially “even more costly.” Implications for government include added pressure to create new designations, increased concerns about shortages due to demographics and safety concerns. Looking at next steps resulted in three scenarios, said Empey. Option I could see consolidation in Canadian Operating Equipment Joint Training Centres (COEJTC), of which there are eight in Canada. They could function as Centres of Excellence, each focused on a different area, and provide the infrastructure for the next steps. A risk in this option is that it could exclude apprenticeship training. Option II would look at Canada’s apprenticeship system and work with the provinces to create national apprenticeship standards. The downside is the enormous cost, time and effort required to work with 13 different systems to arrive at common trade designations. A third option would combine elements of both, with specific plans for crane and heavy equipment operators.

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“The market has the attention of HRDC,” said Mr. Empey, and there is a plan and a vision to move forward with a national system that could be applied to the complex situation we have in place. How are national standards possible given differences between provinces? Ontario, for example, demands compulsory certification for tower mobile crane operators while B.C. is talking about “more flexibility, a buzzword for removing certification.” Standards would merely serve as a description of the scope of work defining each trade, said Mr. Empey. It would describe the work done in that area, then identify the safety skills required. It would also identify differences from province to province. It would not bind provinces in any way to re-designate the trades but would create a starting point for a national system. Since National Occupational Standards would describe the skills needed to operate a piece of equipment at an occupational level, it would allow provinces to set their own regulations through existing provincial training and delivery programs. Assessment Instruments would then give a national vision of what constituted a competent operator, while Inter-Provincial Credentials would be done through PLAR evaluations of credentials. A participant said it is important not to interfere with existing provincial training instruments as it is “an expensive wheel to reinvent.” Mr. Empey agreed, saying the National Occupational Standards are “a creative way to put right a national problem, but we are not going to tell provinces how to do their business.” Another participant

compared it to the Red Seal program, saying that in that program, you do not need 100% buy-in from all the provinces to have a Red Seal. Similarly, if there is 50% to 60% buy-in on National Occupational Standards, chances are the rest of the provinces would feel pressure to conform. There was an extensive discussion among participants about the federal Red Seal program. Mr. Empey explained HRDC and provincial equivalency groups administer the program and one qualifies for the exam with the Provincial Trade Qualification Certificate given on completion of apprenticeship programs. A participant clarified that non-indentured apprentices can qualify by proving experience in the trade of six to seven years. Participants agreed the intent of the Red Seal is to give inter-provincial certification, but one noted that many provinces now use the Red Seal test for provincial certification. It is possible to qualify if one is not in an apprenticeship program by meeting other requirements, a participant explained. Another noted that while the Red Seal is a standard exam, multiple versions of it exist across provinces. A participant commented that it is an assumption to consider the inter-provincial exam a good test of competency. Another noted that the Red Seal is only the end of a process of certification and that in order to write the exam, competencies are also tested in other ways. But another participant noted that since competencies are measured in numbers of hours spent on-site, it is not a good measurement of actual skills and rotations acquired on the job.

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Finding the Right Assessment Tools—TOWES Lynda Fownes, Executive Director of B.C. Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council (SkillPlan) Conrad Murphy, Business Leader, Business Development Department, Bow Valley College “The TOWES project is partnership in the truest sense,” said Lynda Fownes. SkillPlan represents trades that build buildings while Bow Valley specializes in the vocational college market. This presentation addresses assessment of skills needed for apprenticeship. Academic and workplace skills in literacy and numeracy are very different and require different assessment tools. “Workers should be tested against benchmarks that would be meaningful on the job.” Essential skills are the Velcro to which other training sticks. For example, reading is a foundational skill that facilitates learning of other skills. But rather than just can read/cannot read, there is a range of reading abilities that falls between those extremes. The backdrop to all the trades is changing significantly. In painting alone, there have been 200 new products produced in the past few years, said Murphy. Trades people must be able to read well enough to learn about new products and technologies. “This is not always easy reading,” said Fownes. “Some of it is very difficult.” She related a story about her twenty-something son recently taking a job as a pool boy and being told to assess

chlorine levels by smell—clearly a safety issue. “It’s not enough just to have the material,” she said. “You have to be able to read and understand it.” In construction trades, there is little room for error. It is becoming increasingly important for apprentices to have the foundational skills to be independent learners. In the past few years, apprenticeships have involved more young people but still include a surprising number of people over the age of 35. Across Canada, years of school completed is used as a measure of essential skills needed to succeed in apprenticeships, yet high grade standards screen out many people who would be good in a trade. There are also many different ways to finish high school, and they all represent different things. Another important factor is the number of years since high school completion. “If you got your Grade 12 thirty years ago, you still qualify,” noted Murphy. The problem is that skills atrophy, he said, noting his own difficulty tutoring his teenage daughter in the same math skills he learned in high school. A further issue is the mismatch between the tools used to assess literacy and numeracy and the type of literacy and numeracy skills needed for apprenticeship. Fownes and Murphy read some examples of existing literacy tests, which require reading and understanding of passages of literary prose and poetry. They then compared that with the type of material that has to be read and understood in the workplace: for example, the WCB Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, divided into books, parts, sections, sub-sections, and sub-sub-sections. “This is not easy reading,” said Fownes. “We tutor

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several hundred people per year through apprenticeship and they have difficulty with this. It’s not reading a passage of prose from beginning to end; it’s reference material, using headings and subheadings, and it needs to be referred back to constantly.” Another example is technical documents that incorporate drawings and row-and-column information as vital parts of the material. “In Sweden and Germany, people learn to read this kind of material but this is not well taught in Canada,” said Fownes. Then there is the issue of workplace numeracy, where it’s not just important to know math functions as they are taught in school but to be able to apply those functions to real, threedimensional problems. “I handle budgets daily as part of my job,” Mr. Murphy commented. “But I could not calculate some of the problems that a journeyman has to calculate.” Ms. Fownes and Mr. Murphy walked the group through several kinds of reading required in the trades. In a Level 1 example, the required skill is to simply locate information embedded in a document. A Level 2 document requires the reader to look in two different places to find an answer. In Canada, 43% of the population “maxes out” out at this level. A Level 3 document is more problematic because it requires the reader to cycle through the document to locate two pieces of information, avoiding several plausible distracters in order to answer the question. This is the level of reading skill typically required both to work in the trades in Canada and to transfer skills to new areas.

The Essential Skills Research Project (ESRP) established a process called job profiling whereby the literacy requirements and complexity of individual jobs could be rated on the same scale. To date, HRDC has used this process to profile the literacy requirements of over 170 occupations, classified as C and D or entry-level occupations. They are currently profiling Red Seal occupations, which are classified as B level occupations. “In Canada, less than half the population has the skills required to transfer into other occupations, despite the money we spend on our public school system,” said Murphy. We tend to stream kids into vocations if we feel they are not intelligent enough for university, yet the current reality is that journeymen require a very high level of literacy and numeracy skills—often higher than management. Showing an example of Levels 3 and 4 literacy, he observed that 25% of high school graduates lack the skill to read at this level, while only 25% more could read it and really understand it. TOWES uses authentic documents and actual tasks to assess and develop skills. It is not a quick assessment; it requires one-and-a-half to two hours to complete a TOWES test. TOWES is useful for: • employment selection and recruitment • workplace essential skills training • work adjustment training • entry level career training programs • school-to-work transition programs • apprenticeship entrance and training • career counselling

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Both SkillPlan and Bow Valley are workplace educators. Products are available to help people prepare to challenge a TOWES test. Products are also available to help teachers learn how to teach essential skills while teaching technical skills. There is also a module for teaching “soft” skills such as planning, working with teams, and management. Are there means of testing and aligning individuals with jobs to which they’re better suited? That usually requires a battery of tests that would take five or six hours to complete, said Mr. Murphy. However, TOWES has something in the middle: a test that targets entry-level jobs. They have developed one for Levels 1 and 2 occupations and will develop one for Levels 3 and 4. “Even at the entry level, the tests are quite challenging.” Have you had any contact with the Adult Learning Disability Association? SkillPlan does a lot of work with ALDA in B.C., said Ms. Fownes. There are a lot of apprentices with learning disabilities, and SkillPlan would like to work more with ALDA. Are there plans to test oral skills and working with others? “We’ve tried to measure what we felt we could measure,” said Mr. Murphy, noting that they’ve also been asked to measure writing skills. “But because we were responding to industry needs, we thought we’d go out there with what the needs were. At this point, we have no plans in those areas. We’ll get this right first, and then move on.”

Are any trade unions on board with this? Several trade unions are on board. For a complete list contact Fownes or Murphy through http://www.towes.com. A challenge to Ontario trade unions has been apprentices, who have the minimum requirement of Grades 10 or 12 and the skills to do their trade, and wish to formalize their trade, but are intimidated by TABE test. Does TOWES address this? “We believe we address this, in part by addressing the disconnect between academic and workplace skills, as well as how long it’s been since high school completion,” said Murphy. However, added Fownes, “what we’d really like to do is acknowledge people who’ve learned something since they left school.” TOWES is a tool that prepares people for success. Somebody needs to tell people what is a reasonable standard to expect in the trades. Quite a few adult learning centres are now using TOWES to guide unemployed clients who say, “I wouldn’t need to know this.” “When a counsellor says, ‘Yes you would,’” said Fownes, “it’s quite motivating.” Have you tested Aboriginal groups? There was strong Aboriginal participation in the IALS survey, and there were two reactions, said Fownes. A lot of people—not just Aboriginal people—still find the testing overwhelming: it’s not just Aboriginal who are experiencing low literacy rates. But the positive side is that they can see a practical aspect to the testing.

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Our community college is considering this kind of training. What is the cost? “We are very interested in working with business and educational communities,” said Murphy. “We would like to talk about pilot projects, and the cost is reasonable.” Is the booklet for teachers available across the country? “We have a commitment to the federal government to make these products widely available at a reasonable cost,” said Fownes. “We have had a good opportunity to build this and we want to get it out there. It is also available online.” Are you doing anything with apprenticeship branches in regard to helping people get their GED? “No, but we would like to,” said Fownes. “We’re working with a number of organizations to compare the results of different kinds of testing. For example, we’re working with northern workers who took the TABE test to determine comparability in terms of literacy.”

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Individual Learning Modules: A Collaborative Approach Mark Douglas, Director, Industry Programs and Standards, Apprenticeship and Industry Training, Alberta Learning Ray Gilroy, Dean, Mechanical and Manufacturing Technologies, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Larry Rosia, Dean, Construction Trades and Technologies, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology The Individual Learning Modules (ILM) project has been very successful because all stakeholders changed their attitudes and transformed their working relations, said Larry Rosia. The ILM project provided a common goal for collaboration. The main goal of ILM is to improve delivery capability and flexibility of apprenticeship training. This was done by developing standardized learning materials based on apprenticeship course outcomes that will provide a more flexible learning environment. The ILM project focused on building partnerships with educators and industry. Nineteen out of 50 apprenticeship trades in Alberta are currently included in ILM project. Rosia noted that Alberta needs more skilled workers. Ray Gilroy identified several strategies for the ILM project: • Ensure apprenticeship institutions accept modules as the primary learning resource for apprenticeship training. Nine institutions have signed an agreement concerning guidelines for use of the modules. Exams are derived from the

•

• •

•

•

•

modules. Instructor/practitioners write the modules, which are reviewed by their peers. Peers are paid to do this. Smaller institutions submit a review of the modules to a writing team. Albert Learning owns the copyright, but everyone may use the modules. Ensure adequate resources are dedicated to development and management. Alberta Learning funded the development of the first eight trades. Revenue generated from the sale of modules provides for maintenance related activities. Maximize sharing of resources among trades during development and delivery. Utilize curriculum design expertise within public institutions in design and development of modules. Incorporate key elements for self-directed and alternate forms of delivery. Gilroy said that the modules are on paper today, but may be deliverable via the Internet some time in the future. Utilize content expertise within institutions and provincial advisory committees. Industry plays a big role for validation of the learning modules, helping to decide what, specifically, a graduate should know. Provide mechanism maintenance and updating of modules. A royalty from every module sale is paid into a maintenance fund. People may make suggestions for change on the Internet, he said. There is a process for change, correction and trades that do not agree on what should be included in the curriculum. This makes the trades responsible for content, said Gilroy, which helps to get buy-in from stakeholders.

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Gilroy said that five trades have been completed and three trades are under development. Mark Douglas noted that three groups drive the ILM process: industry, Alberta Learning and Educational Institutions. Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board provided the mandate for flexible service delivery, consistent training outcomes that meet industry standards, relevant and current training materials, improved accreditation and articulation. Industry is concerned with program recognition and overlap, he said: industry does not want a tradesperson, who studied a related trade, to repeat overlapping classes. Alberta Learning also provides provincial resources and would like to make the best use of provincial expertise, said Douglas. The Ministry has a vision for a “Campus Alberta,” with life-long learning and institutional cooperation. ILM has high-quality, relevant, standard materials, said Gilroy. It provided the flexibility for delivering and updating training. For example, he said, ILM helps ex-military trades people meet civilian standards. ILM helps reduce curriculum development costs for small trades. ILM provides consistency. ILM also improved working relations because now instructors know other instructors in the province. Developing curriculum is a core service and can be “an endless money pit,” said Rosia. That is why he finds ILM so exciting. Everyone pooled their knowledge to distil best practices. Rosia said that now Institutions willingly share information on practices because they see the value in sharing. Now instructors in specific trades across the province meet more often to plan.

Describing ILM project’s governance, Rosia noted that senior academic officers and the council of presidents govern the deans of apprenticeship. The deans from all the institutions oversee the ILM steering committee, which is responsible for the ILM management team. The management team consists of a Project Manager from Alberta Learning, and one project co-ordinator each at NAIT and SAIT. Industry, the provincial advisory committee and apprenticeship industry training are consulted constantly and are part of the process at nearly every level. Nineteen of 50 trades were initially selected for the needs analysis step of the ILM project, Rosia said. Modules for the Automotive Service Technician, Heavy Equipment Technician, Millwright, Machinist and Welder have been completed. Plumber and Carpenter trades are currently in development. Once a trade is identified, the project team identifies competencies. Then the ILM process moves on to module development, release and maintenance. ILM faced some challenges, said Douglas. Program identity was an issue identified by Industry. Some were concerned that knowledge transfer is not as effective when learners are not from a similar industry and there is a great benefit to have training in the context of a specific trades. This means that, all the electrical trades could study basic electricity together, but there is a benefit to having the electricians learn ohms law in the context of the electrician trade that would be lost if they learned it in a class with other trades, he said. Program fragmentation was also a challenge identified by industry; the fear is that completing some ILMS

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could lead to partial certification. He said that certification is a separate issue from program delivery. There is no intention to fragment or change the way certification is offered unless industry requests a change. Another challenge was that resources at Alberta Learning were scarce, making it difficult to work collaboratively to achieve buy-in. The project management structure was complex: writers were seconded to the project, but were still working for the institutions. As well, because staff resources are limited at educational institutions, it was a challenge to entice small institutions to participate. This was further complicated by the fact that excellent trade instructors are not always great writers. How exportable are ILMs across provincial jurisdictions and would it require much work to make them so? The resource could be provided across Canada for the same cost as to Albertans, Rosia said. Other jurisdictions may mix and match the ILMs as they please to meet local needs as long as the individual modules remains uncompromised. Did the project deal with designing ILM size to fit across trades? For example, how many levels are in hydraulics? Douglas said they tried to address that challenge by doing clusters of trades at the same time. Douglas said that, when they developed ILMs, they re-used curriculum components when possible; for example, a core hydraulics course is the

same across several trades. Individual trades may add supplementary materials and create their own module. Rosia spoke about the maintenance cycle, noting three categories of recommendations regarding ILMs: • typographic errors, grammar and editing • suggestions for content addition or deletion • revision to course outcomes The ILM maintenance team handles editing and content change. Recommendations for content change are always referred to the industry advisory network. The industry advisory committees would address concerns made to it when it conducts a review. Is the review was tied to the National Occupational Analysis? They are not linked optimally, said Douglas, but this is changing with CCDA’s recent work on common core curriculum for the carpenter trade. He said that not every task in the NOA necessarily has a direct link to technical training. The industry advisory committee determines what should be learned on the job and what is critical for technical training. The program has had positive and constructive feedback, Douglas said, noting that it is important to keep instructors positive because their influence trickles down to apprentices and industry. Maintenance writers are challenged to make changes fairly, and many variations exist within a province.

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The welder trade will enter the maintenance cycle in academic year 2002-2003. The development of the trade ended in spring 2002. Electrician and carpenter modules are in the development phase. The modules become available at the peer review phase. The carpenter modules align with NOA’s carpenter common core curriculum project. Program sequencing across jurisdictions needs resolution. Gilroy commented on the short-term benefits of participation in the ILM projects. For example, writing modules helps staff know their trade thoroughly. Many have learned how to word process or use a computer through this process, he added. Overheads and graphics from ILMs are sold so teachers can project the image on a screen. The writing and planning process helps to assemble a team of experts who solve problems. ILM materials are developed from the perspective of the learner and pull materials from many sources: rather than buying many texts and only using a couple of chapters from each, the content is centralized into a smaller number of texts. A long-term benefit is that fewer resources are necessary to spend on curriculum development now than 10 years ago. In future, said Douglas, they look forward to what they will be able to do with revenues from the maintenance royalty. If they had more resources, they could enhance ILM with alternate delivery proposals, item banks, use of colour in modules, instructor guides and support materials, and competency and objective indexing. As well, the ILM project could expand into other related trades. He

said that unrelated trades are a lower priority, and they would encourage other jurisdictions to contribute to these. Although the past five years have been frustrating in some ways, said Douglas, they’ve also been rewarding. Training standards have been identified and enhanced. His hope is colleges apprenticeship programs outside of Alberta might be interested in expanding ILMs beyond Alberta. Are ILMs done in the classroom only? This is up to the training provider, Douglas said. The purpose of the project was t make it easier for institutions to develop alternative approaches to delivery. How can laboratory exercises be completed outside of class? Gilroy said that when apprentices register for distance education they do exams electronically and book practical tests at the institute when they can visit. Millwrights do supervised labs at the work site, he said. What about distance delivery completion rates? Douglas said that completion rates of a distant delivery program improve when employers buy into it and support it. Apprentices without effective employer support find program completion difficult.

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B.C.’s New Approach to industry Training and Apprenticeship Stuart Clark, Director of Industry Training, B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education Stuart Clark noted that industry training in the province occurs through a long-established system (celebrating its sixtieth anniversary in 1995) with 30,000 trainees and 16,000 apprentices in 165 to 200 trades. Training pathways include secondary school apprenticeships, entry-level trades training, and apprenticeship. There is a pressing need to re-evaluate the current system because changing demographics will result in a shortage of skills: by 2010, the number of people leaving the labour force will exceed those entering. It is estimated that there will be 700,000 B.C. job openings between 1998 and 2008, and 75% of these jobs will require post-secondary training, including apprenticeship. It is predicted that construction trades will have the largest predicted number of job openings, followed by culinary and meat cutting, electric, mechanical, automotive and graphic arts. Economic changes are also pushing the need for change, with increased demand for skilled workers and employers’ concern over shortages of qualified workers. “There could be significant consequences if action is not taken,” said Stuart. Potential impacts include a limited expansion of B.C. industries, the need for employers to pay high premiums for salaries and benefits, more job-hopping, stronger incentives to replace people with technology and increased use of labour in foreign countries.

Industry training in B.C. will change to meet these challenges. The government conducted a core services review that has led to massive changes throughout the province. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders, and virtually everyone said that change was needed, although various stakeholders offered different ideas and solutions. A political decision was made to eliminate ITAC and to build a new system that builds on ITAC’s strengths. A transition team of nine people is bringing the new model to fruition; this Transition Advisory Committee includes ITAC staff dedicated to preserving, protecting and growing the industry training system. The Transition Advisory Committee has had two meetings so far. The old system was government funded, administered by ITAC, time-based, trade-based, supply driven, and relied on public trainers such as colleges and institutions. The new system is characterized by shared funding, administered by the ministry and stakeholders, competency-based, sector-based, is demand-driven and will offer a choice of trainers. Apprentices will be charged tuition fees. Some potential advantages of the system include more flexible training, targeted funding to those trade areas that are in demand, shorter entry level trades training programs, a greater role for the private sector, a curriculum based on competencies and national standards, and flexibility for training institutions to set tuition rates for technical training. The aims of the new system are to reduce the number of designated trades, offer a competencybased curriculum, have apprentices pay their own

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tuition, have apprentices demonstrate a set of competencies for certification and increase the private sector share of training delivery. The entry-level trades training (ELTT) program will also change. Under the new system, public institutions will continue to deliver ELTT and private trainers and industry will be encouraged to expand their involvement in training. Priority for program funding will go to sectors that need workers and where ELTT decreases the time to trade certification. Shorter ELTT programs (of four to seven months instead of the current seven to 12 months) will be developed and some will be delivered online. Of those that now complete ELTT, some 20% enter apprenticeships, and the government hopes that the new system will increase this number to 80%.

identify training needs and fund skills upgrading for employees. Training providers will deliver training and related services with a greater emphasis on workplace than classroom delivery. Services will be maintained for current apprentices to the end of this fiscal year (2003), when the new model will be fully operational. Ten ITAC offices have been closed, and a 1-800 number and Web site have been set up to respond to questions. A new act will be tabled in March 2003. A participant asked how the new system will tie in to the Red Seal program. Stuart asked why competency-based training would be perceived as contrary to the Red Seal program.

Stuart suggested that the proposed changes would enable B.C. to respond more quickly to offering training for emerging occupations. Training will be linked to workplace technologies and workplace delivery. Just-in-time and customized training will be offered where sectoral or cross-industry needs warrant public funding of training. Training standards and credentials will also be linked to post-secondary credentials.

Stuart was asked to define “industry” under the new model.

The roles of various stakeholders under the new approach will change. Government will be responsible for working with industry to establish standards and issue credentials. Trainees will share costs for their initial training and will be responsible for career planning and training access. Employers will share the costs of training development and delivery, and they will be expected to

An audience member took issue with the fact that of the nine people on the transition committee, not one is from the building trades unions. The audience member felt that the B.C. building trade unions should be on the board and further suggested that training should fall under the jurisdiction of the federal (not the provincial) government.

He replied that business, labour, workers and employers make up “industry.” In response to another question, Stuart suggested that government and public and private training providers will be responsible for testing.

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An audience member who represents the Métis said that she is not advising anyone to go into the trades given these changes. Stuart said he has approached ARDAH’S about how they might work together. Stuart was asked to clarify the difference between an apprentice and a trainee. He said there are two formal streams, with some 16,000 apprentices and 14,000 people in the ELTT program through the public system. Regarding the Red Seal program, a participant suggested that B.C.’s reforms would make secondclass citizens of its trades-people. Stuart emphasized that he is co-chair of the labour mobility group and that BC has no intention of withdrawing from the Red Seal program. An audience member pointed out that at the recent Skills Canada competition, B.C. received 14 gold medals—more than any other province. This was cited as evidence that the system is working well and is not in need of an overhaul. A participant commented that it is unfair to charge apprenticeship tuition fees. A BCGEU study of four trades showed that apprentices paid $10,000 to $13,000 in income tax over four years and that to charge fees amounts to double taxation.

Apprenticeship is an investment, not a cost, and it offers a huge rate of return. Competency-based education was tried in 1981 at a cost of $35 million and that it was an unmitigated failure. Stuart was asked to commit to a public consultation process before this new system is passed in the legislature. He said that a consultation plan would be discussed at the Transition Advisory Committee meeting later this week and that forums will be organized around the province, possibly in the fall, to consult with the public. A participant noted that the make-up of the transition committee is not very inclusive, given that it consists of one woman and no Aboriginal or younger members. Moreover, how many board members have served an apprenticeship? Stuart reiterated the process used to assemble the board. He could not answer the question about apprenticeship. There is no evidence that these changes will affect IP or B.C.’s participation in the 44 trades. There are many things that business and labour agree upon, and one in particular is the importance of secondary school apprentice programs. Stuart said that he negotiated the first agreement in 1994 with secondary schools in Chilliwack, Surrey, and Kelowna. The government is very serious about growing and nurturing this program. Role models and success stories are needed.

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Mentor-Coach: A Look at Improving the On-the-Job Training Portion of the Apprenticeship Training Plan Gerhard Gedies, Managing Director, The GSI Group George Ramik, Project Manager for Youth Internship Program, CARS Network Chris McEwen, Apprentice Coordinator, Athabasca Joint Venture On an opening note, Chris McEwen noted the origin of the word “mentor”—when Ulysses went to war, Mentor looked after his son. He went on to discuss an Apprentice Mentoring Program (AMP) at the downstream portion of the Athabasca Construction Joint Venture, a $2.3 Billion project with 1,050 apprentices. There are now more than 40,000 apprentices registered in Alberta—“a whole big whack of new young workers” being trained to replace an aging workforce. “We try to help the apprentices realize that the journeyman’s ticket is a launching pad.” The reasons for starting up the AMP included the need to bring younger workers into construction because of an aging workforce, a declining population and the high risk of accidents for young workers. McEwen referred to the new apprentices as “condo kids” who have little experience using hand tools, rigging, industrial machines or climbing to heights. When the AMP began, the provincial statistics on death and injury for new workers was “shocking.”

It’s important to get all parties—employers, journeymen and government—to buy in to such a program. “Everyone has to want the original objectives to happen.” In order for this to take place, there were “open, frank discussions” about the apprenticeship situation. “If we don’t know where we’ve been, how can we figure out where we’re going?” Concerns over cost were addressed, together with concerns about the Kyoto Accord, client needs and the need to see the “big picture.” Shell, one of the owners of the project, has been very pro-active, giving the project an “industry perspective,” and the Construction Owners Association of Alberta has been “100% behind the project.” The first AMP class was held in January 2001. Three 4.5-hour orientations were held for apprentices and journeymen, using a “tell-show-do” model. Training was designed to meet the participants’ needs, and feedback was encouraged and applied to refine the approach. Apprentices and journeymen were viewed as “customers.” Costs include wages for two tradesmen, full-time; one morning’s wages for each participant; a ball cap for each apprentice; and a blanket-lined jacket for each journeyman. Feedback indicated very high interest on the part of participants, as well as the Workers’ Compensation Board and the unions. “I, for one, am convinced we have made a difference,” a view shared by Shell personnel.

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McEwen made the following recommendations for anyone interested in starting such a program: • start early in the project • show your objectives • orient supervisors • ensure instructors are tradespeople • ensure equal rewards to all • encourage early participant involvement • keep AMP separate from site orientation processes • maintain location and schedule • make sure you “set the hook” during the first 1.5 hours of the program Is the AMP is set out in any collective agreements? No, said McEwen, and it is unlikely to be included in future agreements. Is 4.5 hours is enough for mentor training? “Not even close,” said McEwen. Calling the program “Mentoring Lite,” he said most of the time was spent on the “tell-show-do” model. If given the opportunity again, he would ask for 1.5 days, but in 4.5 hours, “we planted a seed,” and “reached a lot of people in a short time.” A participant noted that a package on mentoring is available from the B.C. Open Learning Agency, including videos and workbooks.

How is training tracked? McEwen said those in the AMP used logbooks to track their learning. “Someone has to watch they don’t get lost in the system.” A participant referred to a survey that indicated only 65% of apprentices said that when they were having difficulties, they would get help. How can this be improved? McEwen said this is a concern he hopes to address, and plans to set task lists and ensure apprentices are rotated through various jobs. Responding to further questions, McEwen commented that: • The participation rate of First Nations is very low. • Alberta is attempting to embed mentoring and stewardship in its apprenticeship curriculum, but the curriculum is already very full. • Mr. McEwen is putting something on the web about mentoring. • Those in B.C. have an opportunity to building mentoring into any new program. • As of May, 2002, the number of journeymen who chose to mentor at the Athabasca downstream site was 800 out of 3,600. George Ramik then spoke about CARS’ history and a number of CARS’ projects that were established with assistance from HRDC and primarily driven by industry concerns about increased computerization of the automobile and its impact on the auto repair trades. The CARS projects have addressed the development of occupational standards, career choices and internships for youth, accreditation

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of post-secondary programs and the delivery of technical upgrade training to industry and college instructional staff. In addition CARS is addressing the need to train managers and shop owners to understand human resource management and its connection with profitability and sustainability. The CARS mentor/coaching program is designed to give knowledge and skills to journeymen so they can provide quality training. Gerhard Gedies then spoke about applying the mentoring model to the motive-power industry, where there is “a tremendous need for mentor/ coach training.” Ideally, apprenticeship should focus on learning, with earning secondary. However, since the average apprentice begins at age 26, he or she may already have family or other responsibilities, which make earning important. Learning is essential today because of the high-tech systems now common in automobiles and the shift from single-step to multi-step procedures. This means “far greater workplace expectations to deliver the goods.” Despite this, apprenticeship programs have not changed, with almost 90% of training in some trades taking place at work. Employers typically believe that colleges are responsible for skills training and that a journeyperson should be able to explain everything. However, being a journeyperson doesn’t necessarily mean one can be a trainer. One challenge is dealing with those who have just become journeypersons who must now learn how to teach. Although consultants monitor apprenticeship training, in Ontario, for example, the average consultant looks after 1,000 apprentices.

Gedies noted that in Canada, no one can coach a sports team without taking at least 80 hours of mandatory training, but in the workplace no training is required. A study was commissioned to analyze workplace training needs. Through focus groups, some “superstar” mentors were chosen “and we brought them together to pick their brains.” They met with 28 apprentice groups, 500 people, and received more than 1,000 responses to surveys. Obstacles to workplace training included perceived high costs, trainees who lacked basic foundation in skills and qualifications of mentors. Knowledge and skill requirements included communication, organization, planning, problem solving and decision-making, and trust in trainees. Apprentice feedback concerned lack of a specific person to report to, lack of a training plan and the coaching abilities of mentors. The program requires 84 hours to deliver. “Do you think that’s an awful lot of time? For the beginning learner, certainly not. There’s no shortcut to this.” Ninety per cent of industry respondents said that there should be some formal training. Following the survey, the CARS Council endorsed the recommendation and approved a two-year project. HRDC was approached for funding assistance. A steering committee was formed and a curriculum designed to be motive-power-trade specific, but adaptable, with interactive learning guides and a CD-ROM. A pilot project began with an eight-course program, giving participants the ability to select courses, or even units, as

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they required, and with various delivery modes. Feedback was 90% positive, praising the courses’ relevance and effectiveness.

In B.C., there are few major projects like Athabasca, so could a mentor/coach program still work?

CARS training guides are available and there is a web site. In addition, Durham College has developed a generic mentoring program that applies to any trade. Gedies expressed hope that some form of mentor/coach training will be compulsory before apprentices sign on, as better training will improve both profitability and the profile of the trades.

“It’s as do-able in small jobs as large,” McEwen answered. Even a small program is a good opportunity to expose people to the potential. “A shop shouldn’t be without someone who is properly trained as a mentor.”

George Ramik took the podium to discuss how a mentor/coach program is made “part of the fabric” of apprentice training. “One of the ways to get this thing to move forward and become better integrated into apprenticeship is to get formal recognition.” CARS is now looking for industry or trade certification. At this time, there is no formal recognition by industry or government. Challenges for apprenticeship programs in general include a high dropout rate and the lack of women. “Even if we are successful in attracting them, without good training, they don’t stay.” A participant commented that older journeypersons (who would become trainers) who will soon leave the industry, “so we should get on with it.”

Have they considered teaching mentors how to develop a successful plan in light of retiring journey persons? This concept was “embedded” in the program, said McEwen. “That’s a strength of apprenticeship, that we give back what was given to us.” However, incentives are necessary. “This is an excellent platform to move on within your career,” he added, citing the NVQ system in Great Britain. “Any kind of learning undertaken in the world of work has value.” Too many journeymen are promoted with no skills, so we end up with people without technical skills who are running the show. “The incentive for the young trainees is that their work isn’t dead-end any more.” Employers want workers who are committed to life-long learning.

Gedies agreed. He mentioned that, “in a province [Ontario] where apprentices are more than twice as likely to get hurt on the job,” the accident rate has declined. The metric program may have played some part in this, but the mentor/coach program also made a difference.

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The focus of mentor/coach programs is on apprentices, but the issue of how to be a mentor needs to be addressed. A boilermaker can’t become good at everything, and we need to develop journeymen’s ability to become learners at every level?

Is the Durham College program recognized?

“The spoon-feeding era is gone,” said Gedies. People need to take responsibility and develop independent-learning skills.

Useful Web sites were noted as follows: • http://www.tradesecrets.org • http://www.COAA.org • http://www.CLRA.org • http://www.carsmentorcoach.on.ca

It’s hard to get people to come in and do eight hours of up-grading, let alone 84 hours to learn mentoring skills. Where is the incentive to get people to come in for the good of society?

It is not accredited for other trades, said McEwen. Get your sector council to look at it, and amend it to make it suitable. The program is built on the 70% of skills that apply to all the trades.

“Exactly those questions were raised” when this program was envisioned, said Gedies. The 84 hours is not all at once, and learners get credit for each course or unit taken. “The on-line system is the answer.” Do journeymen feel threatened by teaching an apprentice who, in a non-union setting, might surpass them and take their jobs? “In Alberta, we have an abundance mentality,” said McEwen. However, a suspicion remains, and “you have to convince them that if they get enough people like them who have those skills, work will come to them as a group.” Gedies noted that while apprentices are in the school-based part of their program, the instructors must meet certain standards. “So for the rest of the 80%, that should be true.”

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Distance Delivery of Various Apprenticeship Programs Allan Martin, Professor, School of Skilled Trades, Durham College Bill Yaremko, Program Head, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a big organization teaching 35 trades and 12,888 apprentices, said Bill Yaremko. His personal area of expertise lies in the electrician trade. Training at NAIT is delivered either by the in-class method or through a distance delivery program designed to train apprentices in remote rural areas. Alberta assigns a certain number of seats for each of the four years of electrician training each year, said Yaremko. This year, they assigned 100 seats, although NAIT has the capacity to train more. He said the interview is the first stage of the distance delivery option and is designed less to screen the applicant and more “to scare him.” This process allows the student “to know what he is getting into” when opting for distance delivery training. A second stage is a contract. The distance student is given three times the amount of time a day student is given to complete the program. An 18-week program could then take six months to complete. Students choose the start time but commit to finishing by the end of the academic year. Exams are supervised by career development centres, educational consortiums, industry, or other educational institutions while all lab and hands-on components are done at NAIT. “Space in labs is

difficult to get but can be booked by telephone,” he said. Apprentices in the distance program must complete the same lab requirements as day students; they decide whether to attend labs once a week or over the course of a whole week. Overall, Yaremko noted, the major distinction between the day and distance student is that the latter misses out on in-class lectures and do most of their learning through the use of modules. The program has been active since 1984 but online aspects were developed after the Alberta government provided funding for online electrician, welding and carpentry programs five years ago. What about the ratio of hands-on versus academic work? Yaremko said the electrician program tends to be 90% academic while a trade like welding might be the opposite. He led participants through models of modules and end of modules exams a student would find online after keying in a password. He clarified for a participant that modules are selfcontained and stand-alone. As an example of an online activity, he ran a simulation of a fire alarm, demonstrating how a student would start a virtual fire and learn about the systems that kick in to stop it. In addition to this online activity, NAIT is working on having students access Power Point presentations of lectures and animations using Flash software. Yaremko demonstrated animated modules on sine by degree or watts, showing colourful three-dimensional simulations of currents and magnetic fields.

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The technology has some limitations, said Yaremko, noting that while all students had access to computers and the Internet, few had high-speed Internet. “Flash has the advantage of being a relatively easy software to transport over slower modem connections.” A participant asked if NAIT sets thresholds for downloads. Yaremko said no, but few animations are over 14 kbs in size. Yaremko noted that all modules contain tests requiring a 90 % pass rate. Students do not have to finish a module test before moving on to the next as each test may be printed out and worked on in a setting of choice to the distance student. If a student fails a test three times, advisors will call to follow up. Are instructors automatically notified when a student takes a test?

Do teachers take on both daytime and online students? Some do, while others strictly teach one or the other. Do instructors work evenings and weekends? Yaremko said staff consent to making calls to distance students in the evenings when they have a better chance of catching the student. They are compensated for this time. What about formulas for instructor workload? Duties are defined and divided by numbers of students. For example, six to 10 students may be assigned to each instructor. The same formula is applied to both distance and normal-time students.

Instructors access students’ files themselves, and get access to the entire history of the student’s activity, said Yaremko. Through the use of The Learning Manager (TLM), a student will access a different test each time. Pass rates for in-class and distance students are comparable but completion rates are lower for distance students, most often because of changes in students’ work schedules.

Can students outside Alberta take the distance training?

A participant asked for a comparison of costs to the institution between the distance student and the normal delivery student.

Professor Allan Martin began by saying he does not have a trades background but has taught in trades for many years. He said Ontario’s Durham College’s continuous 36-week mechanics course could be accessed on-site at any time of year but died twice due to “demand reasons.” As a result, two-and-a-half years ago, his dean “pulled us out

NAIT “deals with this as being exactly the same cost, said Yaremko.

The program can be delivered anywhere but currently trains electricians for Alberta, said Yaremko. Students who move to other provinces or abroad are eligible to complete training online. Distance students currently reside in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Yukon, the U.S.A., and Cuba.

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of classes” and requested that Martin and two colleagues develop an online version of course training. They began using Blackboard and now use software called Web CT. “It’s been a learning curve,” he noted, adding that he has become the resident online expert despite limited IT knowledge. Courses are self-paced, self-directed and are offered year round. As in Yaremko’s programs, the distance student at Durham College tends to have better study habits than in-class students. He joked about a student who complained about not enjoying online training because, “in class he can sleep through lectures while this way he really had to work.” The mandate of Durham College’s online courses was to train students in remote areas of Northern Ontario, not to compete for students with access to in-class training taught at Durham. They formed a successful partnership with Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, which offers technical portions of the training while Durham offers online academic components. Trainings were conducted in four one-week blocks. Nine apprentices started and finished the first training – Advanced Electrical Apprenticeship. Through evaluations of students, Martin said, they learned that the student’s best appreciated being graded immediately upon finishing the exam. Durham has since partnered again with Sault College to deliver the IMM apprenticeship program – Level I & II. While there were some drop-offs due to work scheduling issues, six apprentices passed.. A disconcerting aspect of this experience was “never seeing your student.” The colleges equally split government monies for trainings, to the satisfaction of both Sault and Durham.

Durham has also piloted online Industrial Millwright Mechanics (IMM), Machining and math courses involving post-secondary students who did not manage to sign up in time. Other in-college pilot programs include IMM Trade Calculations – 23 students; and Electrical Code – 24 students were involved; a facilitator was present in the classroom, however students completed the course material and testing online. In another example, Martin said Durham is training six employees of a major utility in Toronto to upgrade certification to IMM. The arrangement was negotiated through a collective agreement between employers and union, with the latter “buying in first.” All six had worked in mechanics for over 20 years, most had never turned a computer on before and English was not their first language. As a result of taking the online program, two bought their own computers. As well, the employer set up a computer lab at the worksite and gave the men up to three hours off per day for online training. The students finished modules two to three weeks ahead of schedule, which Prof. Martin said, “goes to show, you can teach an old dog new tricks.” Students who fail courses are not required to do the whole course over. Because modules are selfcontained, Durham sells them only the portions they require. He cited as example selling mathonly portions of training to welding students. Feedback from students thus far has been positive, Martin said. In May, he finally met students from Sault College who “commented on the slow start to the program but were keen to sign up” for

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further trainings. In query to a question on the cost of putting information online, Martin said Durham keeps its costs down by “not re-inventing the wheel,” and students are referred to an alreadyexisting textbook. Students are graded by taking various exams. They may complete take home quizzes as often as they want, and are given the opportunity to obtain a 100% by completing the quizzes as often as they want. Ten per cent credit is given for doing these quizzes, while the six Proctored quizzes account for the other 90% credit. Students require an overall of 70% to pass the course. Durham has concentrated efforts on making the courses as quick and easy to download as possible. “Unlike at NAIT, we set our download thresholds at about 30 to 45 seconds.” He told participants that Durham is presently having their Rigging course converted to Flash & Shockwave as a pilot program to give students options of accessing more sophisticated versions. As for the possibilities of video conferencing, Prof. Martin said he believed “it is still in its infancy right now” but that he is excited about its possibilities as a “tool of the future.” Disadvantages of online training include high costs of development, maintenance, software and constant student supervision, and the need for long-term commitment by personnel and students. However, advantages outweigh these factors, including flexibility for students that better accommodates work schedules, single parenting lifestyles and the various disadvantages of temporary geographic relocation.

A believer in IT training, Prof. Martin noted that several corporations are “getting into it” for their employees. And while statistics show that 70% of people drop out of e-learning, he cautioned participants to take this fact with a grain of salt “because it doesn’t say who these people are: corporate workers or students?” What software do you recommend? Martin recommended Web CT as software for its discussion and internal e-mail options, the fact that is easy to use and that it keeps layouts fairly simple. Students are only currently required to have a minimum 56k modem. Training in using the software is currently done using how-to handouts, he said, although, “Anyone who knows how to point and click with a mouse” can access Web CT. In the case of the six workers from Toronto, an on-site demonstration was held at the onset of the course. One participant noted that in his case, online training has raised problems of excessive hours of work for instructors that are hard to compensate. Martin admitted he has spent excessive hours on the project but that he is confident he will be adequately compensated once the pressure to get the programs up and running abates. He said his personal motivation, as well as that of his two colleagues, “helps.” He concluded by inviting participants to test out the program by going to the Web site at http://studies.durhamc.on.ca, and punching in “guest” as a password.

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Women’s Participation in Apprenticeable Occupations

represented in all TTO occupations, especially construction, fishing and trapping, logging and forestry, mining, transportation and communicaValerie Overend, WITT NN, Saskatchewan tion, manufacturing, and agriculture. Ten per cent of women participate in TTO occupations overall, Brenda Daniels, WITT NN, Nova Scotia as compared with 58% of men. In construction, women’s participation is only 2%. This is problemSue Langton, SPR Associates Inc. atic in light of a predicted shortage of skilled Sue Langton identified herself as a consultant hired workers by 2020 in all existing and new sectors. by WITT NN to do research funded by HRDC In 1996, 46% of women were in the labour force, due to their recognition of a looming shortage of primarily in service industries such as retail, hospiskilled workers as the baby boomers retire. As the tality, education, and health care. There have been nine-month project just started last spring, the small increases in women’s participation in indusfindings are preliminary but provide a starting trial sectors, but this corresponds with an overall point for discussion. increase in women’s participation in the labour The objectives of the research are to: force. In other words, said Ms. Langton, “not • identify current participation of women in trade, much has changed in the last 20 years.” The same technology, and operations (TTO) occupations barriers still hinder women’s involvement: • identify labour force needs • Women show little interest in TTO because of a negative image of the work. • identify emerging sectors • Parents, peers, and guidance counsellors are • analyze skills gaps for women in TTO unlikely to refer girls to TTO occupations because occupations of a continuing lack of female role models. • identify best practices for recruiting, training, • Women face more barriers than men to entering hiring, and retaining women apprenticeship programs due to a lack of men• develop an Action Plan to facilitate response to toring, lack of related work experience, and industry and sector needs over the next 20 years prohibitive training costs for women who are Ms. Langton started with a literature review, statissingle parents. tical analysis, and surveys of guidance counsellors. • In terms of hiring, retention, and advancement, (She will survey WITT NN members at a later there is weak union support, a lack of mentors, date.) She is also conducting workshops with minimal networking, isolation, and discriminateachers, students, women in TTO occupations, tion. As well, working hours and schedules often and women’s groups in Vancouver, Winnipeg, interfere with family responsibilities. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Her preliminary findings indicate that women are under

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A lot of provinces are now delivering training in different ways, such as through non-profit schools (funded at least in part by the unions) that are facilitating school-to-work transitions. It might be interesting to see if more girls are entering trades directly from Grade 12 than later in life. Turning to best practices, Ms. Langton referred to: • early education “so little girls don’t think they have to be hairdressers and not carpenters” • curriculum emphasis on math and technical skills • exposure to and promotion of women in TTO occupations • high school apprenticeship programs, including girls-only introductory classes • on-job mentoring, partnering women with more experienced women, and job-shadowing • supportive workplace policies, such as familyfriendly policies that are equally beneficial to women and men • partnerships between women’s organizations, government departments, sector councils, educational institutions, employers, and unions Valerie Overend commented that she has young women go into kindergarten classes wearing jeans, t-shirts, boots, and even hard hats and set up stations around the classroom where they get to use tools and learn simple activities. The women went through summer camps with her when they were 12 years old and are not necessarily trades people. The important thing is that the children are being exposed to tool use through women.

In Nanaimo, there is an exploratory workshop that was designed for Grade 6 students but is being moved up to Grade 10. “Every kid in Grade 6 says they’re going to go to university. Yet by Grade 6 some kids are beginning to feel disengaged from academics but don’t know what else to do. This program exposes kids to other options.” At Grade 10, “kids still say they’re going to university but by Grade 12, 31% of them don’t qualify.” For the Grade 10 program, the kids will produce a video on the trades, from writing the script and storyboarding it through to final production. “The message will be, ‘go for your passion, and honour all work.’” Another participant commented that, implicit in the previous story is the assumption that only kids who are not academically inclined should go into the trades, “but we also want to encourage those who are academically inclined.” Ms. Langton commented that school kids need greater exposure to TTO through field trips, workplace tours, summer camps, and so on. Ms. Overend described the “GETT Camps” go-cart camps for Grades 7 and 8 girls, which are usually free for the kids because the community, industry, and technical institutes support them. These five-day camps provide girls with enough scope of exposure that they can extrapolate from their experience and say, “I’m learning carpentry but I could use these skills in a whole lot of related occupations.” They also bring in women as role models from non-construction TTO industries, and go on field trips. Ms. Overend

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encouraged people to contact her about becoming a trainer, and noted that she also goes to communities to teach at the camps.

GETT Camps, and promotion, and other things. “We’re already doing this in some communities and can see the benefits.”

Ms. Langton noted that another best practice is the promotion of registered apprenticeship programs in high schools. In some jurisdictions, high school credits are being counted toward apprenticeship. And in some instances in both high school and college, some introductory courses are being offered to girls only. This is especially helpful in high school where girls tend to be more reluctant to be seen as competing with boys.

Ms. Daniels commented on a project called Techsploration that is currently in eight Nova Scotia schools, each with a team of eight girls. From November/December to April/May the girls spend time with role models, go to work sites, and investigate a wide variety of careers. The final big event is an exploration day attended by parents, guidance counsellors, students, and teachers. Beyond that, program alumni can apply for scholarships. And every year after that, “so that we don’t lose the girls as they go through high school,” the alumnae attend annual events, make presentations, and participate in skills competitions.

“When I hear some of the examples of initiatives that have been underway for some time, I wonder why so little progress has been made over the last 20 years,” said Ms. Langton, “and I’m looking for ideas.” “WITT NN is boring,” said a participant. “These are teenagers, they need something to latch onto. We have to tailor our promotions to their interests.” Ontario has a youth apprenticeship program in 22 schools. It is also compulsory for Grades 7 and 8 boys and girls to take technology courses. Yet in high school, few girls sign up for apprenticeships, and even fewer in fields that are non-traditional. “I still think it has to go back to preschool and kindergarten.” In Newfoundland and Labrador they’re taking a “saturation approach.” Over the next three years, in four areas of the province, they’ll be doing

Programming with young girls is great but concerns remain about systemic workplace sexism. “Are we setting girls up for failure? What about education of employers? I’d like to see girls staying in trades over the long term.” Across Canada, the average age of women going into trades is 30, said Ms.Overend. Many are single parents, and many get into it through pilot projects with major industry. In each province, different programs are being offered. Technical institutes are usually involved but they’re also picked up by community groups and training centres, and most also include a life skills component. Returning to the marketing approach, why not tie interest in trades onto the coat tails of sport? Participation numbers are skyrocketing, especially

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in soccer. They’re already targeting girls who don’t mind being seen by peers all covered in sweat and mud, “and that’s a very good start.” Sports teach good eye-hand co-ordination, good tactile abilities, and hard work. “There is a secret feminist organization in Canada,” said a participant. “It’s called the Girl Guides. I used to be a commissioner, and it’s absolutely great for promoting good careers and lifestyles for girls.” Ms. Overend noted that there have been national discussions with the Girl Guides although nothing formal has happened yet. “In some provinces, we’ve formed good relationships, for example, conducting GETT Camps, but we should do more.” In response to a question about girls-only programs, Ms. Overend noted that it is typically entry-level programming. “We’re not looking for segregation.” There are several formats, but they all include basic orientation with women who have their papers serving as instructors in the classroom and the shop. Skill development is part of it but exposure is the piece that’s most important in making career choices. “The programs also provide information on what it’s like working in a culture of men when you’re the only woman.” A participant noted that there are few opportunities for apprentices whether they’re male or female. CAW has 50,000 members, 8,000 of whom are apprentices. Less than 100 members are women

and few of them are apprentices. The CAW puts on a week to build awareness of women in TTO, which is woman-driven and attended by women members who talk about the barriers. “We need more of this kind of program,” said Ms. Overend. “We need to demystify the trades for women so that they can see themselves walking in those shoes.” It’s not just that guidance counsellors don’t encourage girls to go into trades, said a participant: it’s that they don’t know enough about trades to encourage any students to choose that path. One counsellor said that when she was asked for information on teaching or medicine, she knew exactly where to find it, but she had to search for information on the trades. “Counsellors are focusing 90% of their time on 20% of the occupations.” “One best practice is partnership building,” said a participant. “WITT NN women propel this organization on a voluntary basis. There is only one full-time person for the whole country. These are the people we need to start liaising with. We can’t dump everything on these volunteers.” Ms. Overend noted that while WITT NN infrastructure at the national level goes through ebbs and flows, “we have local ability, and that’s where the partnerships and the budgets happen.”

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A participant referred to studies in Ontario of allwoman crews showing that the crews were always successful at the work “but in our society day cares don’t stay open until midnight if you have to work late or let you take the kid home after two hours if you have to lay off for the day because of rain.” The Kelowna school district recently put on a FITT (Females in Technology and Trades) career fair. There were 12 presenters and a keynote speaker, all of whom were women in trades and technology. It was attended by 300 girls who chose three out of 12 workshops, all of which were hands-on.

In another school district, career fairs don’t include workshops but do have female role models at each display doing some of their work. “The girls come to it like bees to honey.” In response to a participant’s concern about a lack of core funding for WITT NN from HRDC, Ms. Overend noted, “HRDC has been an awesome ally. There’s no funding for anyone but they’ve been very supportive. Communities know we need to do more promotions and if we piggyback our resources on theirs, we’ll get further than by pursuing core funding. We have the same ideas as most of the human resources community in Canada: it’s not only a good idea to encourage girls and women to go into apprenticeable occupations, it’s efficient, it’s practical, it’s the way we have to go.”

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Trade Up! CD-ROM Marketing Project: Selling Careers in Construction

immediately. The game simulates a residential construction job; if the player does not identify the correct trades for the project phase then the house falls down.

Grant Ainsley, Project Manager, Trade Up CD-ROM Marketing Project

Filming began in the summer of 1999, and in the summer of 2000 (two months before the launch) they began planning distribution, which would encompass schools and conferences. The launch was held at a high school in the fall, and was followed by press conferences and VIP receptions to thank sponsors in government and industry. Initially, said Ainsley, they sent 4,000 of the CDROMs to Alberta schools, but nothing happened. Realizing that the product required more promotion, they began hiring youth ambassadors to market the CD-ROM to young people.

In 1998, said Grant Ainsley, the Construction Owners Business Association Committee was concerned because, despite Alberta’s economic boom, there was a shortage of tradespersons, especially young tradespersons. This has been a problem for 25 years. Someone heard about the B.C.-based Woodwinds CD-ROM that was created to promote the B.C. Wood Products Association. The Alberta Construction Association wanted to create an interactive CD-ROM to turn young people onto trades. Ainsley said that his first lesson about producing a CD-ROM is that they are a lot of work! He compared it to writing an encyclopaedia because so much information needs to be organized. Lunny Communications in Vancouver were hired for $250,000 to produce the CD-ROM. He said that $420,000 was raised by unions, employer associations, Alberta Learning, HRDC, and industry to produce and market the CD-ROM. Senior managers participated in the process in order to validate the information on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM also includes many movie clips featuring all trades in the Alberta apprenticeship system— including commercial, residential, industrial and road building—as well as some occupations that are not officially recognized as trades. The CDROM also includes a game, which has turned out to be a great idea because it attracts kids’ attention

Although they had wanted to distribute CDROMs to schools, youth groups, and parents, said Ainsley, they found it difficult to reach parents in large numbers. Yet they knew parents were important because surveys indicate that parents have the largest influence over their children’s career choices. Their challenge was to discover how to convince parents that trades are good careers for their children. They had moderate success at PTAs and parents’ groups, which made it easier to enter the classroom, but they still needed improvement. In particular, he said, they needed to reach out more to Aboriginal groups and industry. Tradespersons need to encourage their kids to enter the trades, said Ainsley, noting that few parents who work in the trades advise their kids to enter trades.

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In the fall of 2000, they hired two marketing students from the University of Lethbridge, which has a co-operative work/study program, to act as youth ambassadors, talking to talk to kids about trades and the CD-ROM. They also hired two marketing co-ordinators—before their job description was written up. They learned a lot “on the fly,” said Ainsley, by doing 450 presentations that distributed 50,000 CD-ROMs in one year in Alberta. The marketing students had a contract from January until August 2001, but this turned out to be a mistake: since school is out in the summer, the marketers had very little work to do during that period. In the second year, they hired two young people from September 2001 until June 2002. This worked out well, despite initial worries that two young female marketers would have credibility problems, because the women got the attention of the young men and could also talk to women about trades. He noted that they found it better to separate the young men and women because the young women speak more when the young men are not there. Recognizing the difficulty of getting women into construction careers, Ainsley noted that the CD-ROM discusses opportunities for women in trades. Why were presenters not recruited from the trades? It would have been difficult to hire an experienced tradesperson at lower wages to travel around Alberta promoting a CD-ROM to teenagers, said Ainsley.

What about hiring a young apprentice to speak to young people? Young trades people would rather work in their trade and make money, said Ainsley. The Registered Apprenticeship Program is based on an agreement between the employer, the student and the school, said Ainsley. Kids want to learn a trade as a link to something else: they don’t see trades as an end in themselves, but as the start of a longer career. The marketers averaged 1.3 presentations per day last year, said Ainsley, for a total of 450 presentations in 2001. Most presentations were made in high schools, he said, although he would like to present to more junior high schools. The CD-ROM needs to reach counsellors and out-of-school youth (age 18-24). They presented to 16 Aboriginal groups, 8 industry groups and 14 parent groups in 2001. In response to a feedback survey, 78% indicated that the CD-ROM was very or somewhat valuable, while 91% said the overall presentation was excellent or good. Ainsley identified several challenges, including: • not getting called back; • schools not being welcoming because many industries compete for students’ attention; • people being unaware of the project and CD-ROM; • negative attitudes about trades, particularly among parents who believe their child is too good for the construction trades.

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Is Trade Up advertised in trade magazines, counselling publications, or career fairs?

A participant asked how many kids are in RAP and how many are in full-time apprenticeships?

Ainsley said that they used word-of-mouth, e-mails, teachers’ conventions and career fairs.

One thousand are involved in RAP, which is a 29% increase over last year, and 300-400 will graduate, said Ainsley, adding that he is waiting for the numbers in apprenticeships. He credited the economy and the youth ambassadors for the increase in youth participation in trades.

A participant said that he was encouraged that Ainsley wanted to target youth out of school. One in eight do not finish high school, he said, and many experience cyclical employment and unemployment. A large market could be accessed through the many programs in Alberta for youth at risk. Ainsley said that the team presented to some youth-at-risk programs. However, it is difficult to access the group in large numbers. A participant said that Ainsley has a good product, but wondered how many people Trade Up convinced to get involved in trades. He suggested that focusing on a smaller market could increase Trade Up’s success rate. Is the success of the Trade Up project measured by the number of new trades workers per year? Ainsley said that there was a record number of about 40,000 apprentices in trades this year. He said that they could not take all the credit for this, but it was a good sign. He said that if they asked apprentices if they know about Trade Up, they could better track its impact.

Youth ambassadors are not just any university students, said a participant, but from a marketing program with a co-op component. He noted that the marketing program tried to hire youth in trades to do marketing but they were unwilling to leave their trade for a year. A participant said that, as an educator, the best way to reach kids is through their peers. That’s why the youth ambassadors program is a good idea. Ainsley commented that the CD-ROM included cool music to appeal to a young crowd. Ainsley demonstrated the main points on Trade Up. The Explore section simulates a construction job to show the number of trades that are involved. The Search section is a database of specific careers and apprenticeship programs. He said that they decided to include the pay scales of the different trades because, although wage fluctuations will date the CD-ROM, the committee thought it better to include them than gloss over them. He also noted that Trade Up includes testimonials and video footage from tradespersons on the job, and even addressed the down sides of some trades, such as aches and pains after hard work.

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Have they considered broadening the Trade Up focus to include all trades, rather than focusing on construction trades? Ainsley said they focused on construction trades because they funded the project. They excluded architects and engineers because they did not want to increase production time. A participant asked if Ainsley had encouraged student interest in a trade that lacked industry support. She said that this was an issue for B.C. In Alberta there is a good connection between industry and apprenticeship programs, said Ainsley. He admitted that it could be a challenge to find a position to enter the trades. Are there comparable CD-ROMs in B.C., in addition to the Woodwinds project?

A participant said that some trades have difficulty placing RAP students, but it varies with the trade. Ainsley said that they had received requests from around the world for Trade Up and would sell the rights for $10,000. Local text could be substituted where required to reflect local conditions. This may be hard work, but could save $200,000 in CD-ROM development costs. Ainsley said that they would consult as part of the deal. Ainsley concluded by identifying lessons learned. This project required a lot of work and goodwill among stakeholders. Producing the CD-ROM is only part of the job, he said. Promotion and distribution also need to be addressed. Industry support helps to raise money and spread the word. Although he believes they are making a difference, he hopes to quantify outcomes better in the future.

No, said Ainsley. However, Lunny has worked on other CD-ROMs since, although he does not know the details.

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