CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Apprenticeships Taking Off

Monday, 19 November 2007

Canada's ongoing construction boom has had an interesting educational side effect: a rise in the number of trade apprenticeships.

Increasingly, a trade is a very profitable long-term career choice for young people. With almost every trade in demand thanks to the ongoing building boom, especially in the west, trades people can command extremely high wages from their employers. Skilled trades also offer opportunities for self-employment which may be missing in other professions.

Canada’s government has helped fuel the demand by offering a $1,000 CAD grant to employers who take on an apprentice.

Most trade apprenticeships take 2 to 3 years for a student to complete, with a lucrative career at the end and valuable work experience while training. Major construction trades seeing apprenticeship increases include electricians, metal fabricators and heavy equipment operators.