Achi news desk-
Stakeholders are wondering what’s next after the Manitoba government announced it will drop the number of apprentices that can be assigned to a journeyperson with a new apprenticeship ratio.
On Wednesday, the province said the regulation would be brought from 2:1 to 1:1, which was originally established after Michael Skanderberg died on the job in 1999. It was changed to 2 :1 in 2021.
Ron Hambley, president of the Winnipeg Construction Association (WCA), said it was changed for good reason.
“Literally our members had enough robust discussions about appropriate ratios in the industry, and settled on the 2:1,” he said. “To be honest, the industry was fine with that. Two-to-one lets the industry grow at a reasonable, manageable pace, and overall, the industry was quite happy with that situation.”
Now, Hambley wonders how an existing workforce shortage will be filled, especially when looking down the barrel of thousands of construction workers who will soon retire.
“The industries we are trying to staff with higher numbers of apprentices are going to be in dire straits,” he said, adding that redundancies were likely on the books.
“If you currently have five journeymen, you can have up to 10 apprentices. If the rules change, which we anticipate they will, it will be moved back to five. So five of those apprentices will have to find something else to do,” he said.
The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.
The WCA reports that 65 per cent of its members will be forced to let apprentices go.
One of those companies could be PowerTec Electric Inc.
“It’s a cause for concern for us,” said Daniel Hartley, president of the business.
“As an employer, we are certainly going to feel the effects of that by dismissing apprentices, or not being able to employ the apprentices we need,” he said.
Currently, Hartley said the company employs around 30 apprentices, which is just over a 1:1 ratio.
“But we are in the process of hiring at the moment. We would hire more apprentices than we would on a journey to try to fill the gaps and the needs we have for the work we get,” he said.
Jamie Moses, the minister for economic development, investment, trade and natural resources, said, “We are still going to continue to grow our skilled trades.”
“We know that is an important area to grow in our workforce, and we are going to do that by investing in training seats,” he said.
Moses did not comment on how many training seats would open, saying that information would be available in the upcoming budget.
He said the hope of reducing the ratio is to “encourage people to enter the skilled trades by making sure it’s going to be of high quality and making sure it’s very safe.”
However, Hartley said the drop felt like backtracking.
“Over the last few years, we’ve had a number of programs in place that have allowed us to hire apprentices – particularly new and first-level apprentices – to get them into the trade,” he said.
“So we have taken advantage of many of these subsidies and incentives to get people into the trades. Now, we feel like the rug has been pulled from under us, and they’re now saying you have to take some of these opportunities away from these people.”
Hartley echoed Hambley’s concern about an aging workforce.
“If we can only hire one apprentice for each passenger, as those people retire, we will hardly appoint replacements. That does not leave much room for growth in the economy,” he said.
Not only this, but he said with a reduction in the ratio, there is likely to be an impact on the pockets of home owners.
“We are able to provide good training with a 2:1 ratio while keeping costs down for the builder who has just experienced unprecedented interest increases and material inflation. Now the labor is going to rise again. “
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
