by Ron Tuff 9/27/2011

As the baby boomer generation retires, replacing our skilled trade workforce will be one of Canada's greatest human resources challenges, but industry need not take on the work alone. A consortium of regional employers, with representatives from their local unions, sector council, school board, college/training institution and provincial government apprenticeship office can ease the burden. The apprenticeship training process can be managed by developing world-class training practices that advance the success of employers and skilled trades while meeting the demand in the community.

Attrition planning is an important challenge facing almost every industry and every region in Canada today. Nowhere is the challenge greater than in the area of replacing skilled tradespeople that will be retiring in the coming decade. The 2011 Human Resources in the Canadian Steel Sector report commissioned by the Canadian Steel Trade and Employment Congress (CSTEC) indicates the principal drivers of change in the steel sector are globalization, demographics and technology. These drivers will shape human resources planning priorities over the next decade. On a national basis, the steel sector will need to hire an average of 1,000 to 2,000 skilled trade workers each year over the next five years. The second challenge will be the knowledge transfer from older workers to younger workers.

While there is a need to initiate and / or expand apprenticeship programs, many workplaces both inside and outside the steel industry are reluctant to begin apprenticeship programs because of the perceived costs and risks associated with apprenticeship programs. These include the administrative resources required to initiate and run training programs, the costs of apprenticeship, the fear of losing apprentices to poaching, etc.

The concept of a regional consortium to address these concerns was first conceived in 2000, when the pan-Canadian approach to apprenticeship training was introduced. The Hamilton Co-op Apprenticeship Pilot Project created a consortium referred to as the Steel Industry Trades Replacement Program (SITRP). Representatives from Dofasco, Stelco Hamilton, Stelco Lake Erie, United Steel Workers, Mohawk College and the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities (MTCU) met together as stakeholders, with common apprenticeship training issues. The initial purpose of the consortium was to develop a Co-op Diploma Apprentice (CODA) model and to act as a sponsor to register college students to apprenticeship Training Agreements. The employers agreed to a common co-op wage rate to eliminate any monetary competition. SITRP sponsorship relieved the employers from a commitment to hire the co-op apprentices as full time employees upon their college graduation. Those that were hired full-time were transferred from the consortium as their sponsor to the employer as their sponsor, to complete their apprenticeship.

The consortium pilot project resulted in approximately 300 apprentices being registered in the steel industry in the Greater Hamilton region, most of which completed their apprenticeships. Even more important, the consortium established a framework that could be adapted to allow local workplaces to initiate and/or expand their apprenticeship programs in a way that minimized risks.

Due to economic factors in early 2007, many of the co-op student work placements were cancelled and SITRP meetings were suspended. Fortunately, other local employers were able to provide work placements during the recessionary times. Reacting to the adverse economic conditions, CSTEC and the steel industry, with the assistance of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), developed the Hamilton Apprenticeship Consortium proposal.