Skilled Labour Shortage:

Due to baby boomer retirements and an aging population, Canada is facing a serious skilled labour shortage. The older average age of many tradespeople and their stated intention to retire suggest that if efforts are not made to train the next generation of skilled workers, Canada's future economic competitiveness will be in serious jeopardy.

For the sectors that rely upon tradespeople, apprenticeship is a proven training method that produces productive, highly skilled, and safe employees. Since it typically takes five years to train an apprentice, industry needs to invest now in order to have the highly skilled tradespeople it needs for the future. A sustained and ongoing commitment to training and to passing down knowledge will be required if skill shortages are to be effectively addressed.