The province hopes to ramp up home construction
The province of Nova Scotia will be investing $100 million over the next three years in order to speed up the recruitment and training of skilled tradespeople.
Premier Tim Houston said on Thursday that the goal of the new initiative was to add 5,000 new apprentices to the provincial system over the next three years as more skilled workers were needed to build homes, roads, hospitals and other infrastructure projects while the population continued to grow.
"The work they do is critical to our growth and they are in high demand. The way we are currently training these skilled professionals can't keep up with the level of demand," said Houston.
Nova Scotia’s shortage in skilled workers
The province is in need of 11,000 new certified trade professionals by 2030, according to officials, with its current limit of 615 tradespeople every year representing only 38% of what’s required.
There was also a problem in retention as only 43% of people who began an apprenticeship completed the training and the certification process. With the new program, officials were optimistic that the target 60% retention rate, the highest in Canada, would be reached.
However, in order to accomplish those goals, the premier said that changes would be needed in training ratios on work sites, allowing three apprentices per journeyperson instead of two. The requirement of having a Nova Scotia equivalent high school diploma before the beginning of apprenticeship will also be waived for immigrants who worked in the trades within their home countries.
How will the investment be used?
The investment included $40 million in grants and incentives for students, apprentices, employers, and journeypersons. As details were yet to be finalized, a tool grant may be worth $1,000.
Incentives will also include a temporary tuition waiver at the Nova Scotia Community College for high-demand workers. Laptop and technology support grants will also be provided while apprenticeship exams will be conducted online for accessibility.
Pre-apprenticeship programs at the community college will be shortened with the one-year certificate cut to six months and the two-year to one year. Nova Scotia will also be offering a financial incentive to encourage more tradespeople to train apprentices, but details were yet to be released.
“The actions announced today are in direct response to the ongoing discussions and ideas from (trade) sectors on what they feel will work,” said Labour Minister Jill Balser.
Trent Soholt, the chair of the board of the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency said that there needed to be increase in the labour pool over the next 10 years because of the major projects that were planned.
“With investment at the level that we are going to see not only do we need every Nova Scotian to see and seize the opportunities in skilled trades, but we are going to need people to come to the province from elsewhere,” he said.
