Benefits of Apprenticeship
There are many incentives for apprentices to participate in an apprenticeship as well as for employers to hire apprentices:
- Apprenticeship is a tried and true method of recruiting and maintaining talent
- Apprentices become journeypersons with better safety performance, greater overall productivity, and fewer mistakes
- Apprentices learn from their employers how business is conducted first hand
- Apprentices and employers participating in an apprenticeship program will ensure employees are trained to Provincial and industry standards
- Apprentices and employers of apprentices have access to numerous government grants, tax credit and special incentive programs. Red Seal trades offer more financial incentives when compared to non-Red Seal trades.
- An apprenticeship program allows employers to have a pool of experienced workers of different ages to mentor new apprentices.
- Employers that hire and train apprentices will foster a relationship built on growth and personal development, resulting in a stable workforce.
- According to Statistics Canada, the earnings of men with apprenticeship qualifications were 14% higher in 2015 than they were in 2005. This growth was faster than that observed among men with all other educational qualifications. The earnings of men with a bachelor’s degree grew by 6%, and those of men with a college diploma grew by 8% over the same period.
- Apprentices “earn while they learn,” and therefore significantly reducing student debt loads by the time the apprenticeship is complete. Apprentices are paid a salary that is approximately 60% of what a certified journeyperson would make. In many cases, their employers also pay for the cost of the educational portion of the training.
- University undergraduates left school with an average debt load of $26,819 in 2015. The Canadian Federation of Students research found that, on average, students graduate with over $28,000 of education-related debt after an undergraduate degree.
