By Julie Perrault

The Apprenticeship System in Canada

Apprenticeship is a structured system whereby an apprentice acquires the knowledge and skills, and learns to use the tools and materials of a trade while employed in that trade under the supervision of a skilled journeyperson. It includes on-the-job training and formal in-school technical training usually taken at a college or a private training institute.

Under the terms of the Canadian Constitution, each province and territory has the responsibility to designate which trade/occupation offers apprenticeship. The establishment of standards for training and for certification of skilled workers at the journeyperson level in these trades is also a jurisdictional responsibility. In other words, there are essentially thirteen distinct apprenticeship systems in Canada.

Most jurisdictions have an Apprenticeship Board whose membership usually consists of employer, employee and training representatives. The main function of these Boards is to advise their jurisdiction’s labour market minister on issues concerning the designated trades. As well, most provinces/territories have Trade Advisory Committees (TACs). These TACs ensure industry’s voice in the development and delivery of apprenticeship programs. And although apprenticeship programs are regulated and administered by the individual provincial/territorial government apprenticeship branches, both the Apprenticeship Boards and the TACs play an important role in shaping the policies surrounding the apprenticeship system in a jurisdiction.

The Red Seal Program

Because of the diversity in training and certification standards, the qualifications of workers may or may not be fully recognized among the jurisdictions, thus creating a barrier to mobility of skilled tradespeople.

To address this issue, the provinces and territories, with the help of the Federal Government, introduced the Interprovincial Standards Program in 1958. The Program is a partnership between the two levels of Government whereby standardized examinations, based on interprovincially-accepted national occupational analyses (NOAs), are developed. The Program is administered in each of the provinces and territories under the guidance of the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) which operates under the provincial/territorial Deputy Ministers responsible for labour market matters.

Through this “Red Seal” program, apprentices who have completed their training, and certified journeypersons, may obtain a “Red Seal” endorsement on their provincial/territorial Certificate of Qualification by successfully completing the Interprovincial Examination for their trade. This endorsement is the journeyperson’s “license” to practice his/her trade anywhere in the country where that trade is designated, without having to undertake additional training or to write further trade examinations.

Out of the over 200 apprenticeable trades in Canada, 44 are included in the Red Seal program (see sidebar). Continuing efforts are underway to expand the Program.

How Do People Get A Red Seal?

An Interprovincial Standards Red Seal can be obtained in the each of the 44 trades listed by:

1. either graduating from a recognized provincial or territorial apprenticeship training program; or by
2. obtaining a Journeyperson level certificate from a province or territory

AND passing the Interprovincial Standards Examination for that trade.