Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - August 2007
Last week Canada's Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, announced new funding intended to encourage more Canadians to enter into the skilled trades. Apprentices training under the nationally-recognized Red Seal Program will now receive $1000 in cash grants to ease financial burdens such as tuition and supplies.
Flaherty, speaking last week to a crowd in Ontario, justified this move by explaining that the latest statistics point toward a debilitating shortage of skilled-trade workers in the near future, noting that already the problem is significantly affecting the country. "...we're talking about thousands and thousands of vacancies for skilled workers across Canada," Flaherty said.
The pressures of the shortage are being felt across Canada, at all levels of governance. Recently educators and industry insiders have been re-examining the situation in an attempt to determine what may have led people to think negatively of skilled labour in the past, and doing what they can to change those attitudes.
Len Crispo, president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, is well aware of the negative connotations associated with the industry. "People think of the trades as a secondary or inferior form of profession," he said in an interview with Toronto media. These jobs are often associated with lower levels of intelligence or heavy physical labour in the mind of the public.
More and more young people, however, have been able to see past the old stereotypes enough to discover a promising, prosperous future career path. Tony Mancini, a teacher of the culinary trade in Montreal, has few worries with regards to his graduates. "This year, I've had so many requests from employers for our students," he said. "[the students] have their pick."
They may have their pick of jobs, but when starting in the industry new graduates often have to settle for less-than-overwhelming salaries. Grants such as those promised by the federal government, help to ease the transition between being a new student and entering the workforce, which is a challenging transition no matter what the industry.
The government plans on investing over $500 million over two years in the trades to attract more skilled workers.
Sources: Calgary Sun and The Gazette
http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2007/08/25/4445235-sun.html
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/archives/story.html?id=ca1a210d-647d-468b-8fb0-ef7cc5326766
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/archives/story.html?id=42377f93-aaa5-4f54-95e9-886ec7b81398
