Labour Market Matters - October 2014

The demand for skilled trade persons in Canada is very strong and new apprenticeship registrations increased by threefold between 1991 and 2007. The number of apprenticeship completions however, did not increase and as a result average completion rates have dropped over the same period. A CLSRN paper by Patrick Coe (Carleton University) entitled “Apprenticeship programme requirements and apprenticeship completion rates in Canada†examines the relationship between apprenticeship completion rates, and the characteristics of apprenticeship programmes, measures of the average age and sex of apprentices, as well as unemployment rates across trades, provinces, and time. The study finds that length of apprenticeship programs, and amount of technical training required are not necessarily linked to program completion rates. Reading, document use, numeracy, and oral communication are among a set of Literacy and Essential Skills (LES) that are considered to be foundational in the acquisition of all other skills, which enable individuals to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change. Recent research has revealed significant gaps in literacy and essential skills among the Canadian workforce. Weaknesses in LES development in the Canadian labour force can result in lower wages, reduced job stability, and potentially raise risks of workplace injury for workers; in addition to lower productivity for Canadian firms. While anecdotal evidence suggests that LES training can work to eliminate gaps in essential skills, firms tend not to invest in this kind of training due to lack of concrete evidence providing a clear return on investment for such training. A project sponsored by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES), a branch of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in partnership with the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), entitled UPSKILL: A Credible Test of Workplace Literacy and Essential Skills Training (CLSRN Working Paper no. 143) aims to fill the knowledge gap by evaluating workplace LES training with the most rigorous evaluation methods, which will provide firms with evidence to make a credible business case for investment in essential skills development.