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What is a Millwright?

tradesmart23 on August 15, 2024

What is a Millwright?

From a trades guy…

Hello everyone, this is Joel Boyd from Trade Smart College. I am the senior Instructor here, and if you choose to enrol in our program, you will be spending 8 weeks with me in the classroom. I am a certified red seal millwright with 30 years experience in the trades. At Trade Smart College we currently offer 5 trades to choose from; Automotive, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, and Carpentry. So you may be asking yourself what is a millwright and what do they know about the above trades? Well let me answer some of your questions.

What is a Millwright?

A millwright is a non-compulsory trade. There are two types of millwright, construction (which is not Red Seal endorsed) and Industrial (which is Red Seal endorsed). I am an industrial millwright. The apprenticeship for an Industrial Millwright is 8000 hours and consists of three levels of schooling. A millwright is responsible for the maintenance and repair of an industrial facility. I worked in the steel industry, the manufacturing industry and for a short time in the heavy equipment industry. I have had a very versatile career.

What does a millwright know about the trades offered at Trade Smart College?
My role as senior instructor at the college is not necessarily to teach you about the trade you have chosen, my job is to teach you the professional employee skills that will make you exceptional in the workforce. After your time in class, you will learn, and my team and I will supervise you on 6-month internship with a company where you will learn the basic technical skills required in your trade. That being said, you will be very surprised how much training a millwright has in all the trades that Trade Smart College offers.

Automotive

I started working in the automotive industry just out of high school. Learning about cars and how they operate was the backbone of my skills that helped me become a millwright. Automobiles are machines with gears, engines, hydraulics, pumps and electronics. These are the same systems in all machines. The components might be larger or smaller, however the principles are the same.

Electrical

As millwrights we learn basic, intermediate and advanced electricity in trade school. We work directly with Industrial Electricians (another non compulsory trade) and assist with installation and removal of electrical and electronic equipment. Many millwrights are dual ticketed as industrial electricians allowing them to work in an industrial facility as both.

Plumbing

Hydraulics, pneumatics, and other piping systems are very common in industrial facilities. In fact, most of my emergency calls as a millwright had to do with leaking or broken pipe. A millwright learns about different types of piping systems, as well as valves, fittings, gaskets and more. We are usually the first to be called for ANY mishaps or problems in the facility. If able we will repair, or if needed we will assist with any repair required.

HVAC

An IMT (industrial maintenance technician) licence is required to work on gas systems in an Industrial facility. This is the same requirement as a fully licensed residential gas fitter. Although again not able to work in the residential or commercial sector, in the industrial workplace, millwrights repair, replace and maintain all gas systems. We (millwrights) also fabricate metal, and learn different cooling systems for a variety of machines.

Carpentry

Reading blueprints and drawings, measuring and using an extensive supply of hand tools are all requirements of a millwright. Just as a carpenter builds items to spec, millwrights do the same, just with some different materials.

Final Thoughts

As stated before, my position at the college is to teach you the “soft skills” that companies want from individuals before they start. Some of these skills are, show up on time, have a positive attitude and put the phone away. Along with other personal development and trades expectations. However, should some specific trade questions arise, as a millwright I am more than capable of answering them. And if I don’t know I guarantee you I will find out, because that’s what millwrights do.

Be well
Joel

Starts September 3rd

Want to learn more about Trade Smart and our upcoming Fall Term? You can now schedule an in-person meeting with Carrie, our Student Success Manager. Pick the date and time that works best for you and that’s it, you’re one step closer to your path in the Trades.

Contact the Team

Hamilton Campus

Campus Hours

  • Mon- Fri: 7am- 5pm
  • Open House - See Schedule

What is the Purpose of an Apprenticeship?

tradesmart23 on August 15, 2024

What is the Purpose of an Apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships are an educational model with a long history. They were initially conceived as a way to educate the whole person – to teach someone how to be a contributing member of the community as well as a skilled artisan. And it was critical that the apprentice be a good citizen first, before they were granted access to the technical skills of the trade. In recent years, we have forgotten to start with character when preparing people for apprenticeships and have focused instead on the specific techniques of a trade. The problem with this is that companies still require character and professionalism before they will sign an apprentice.

The European Origins of Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships emerged across Europe and other parts of the world around 500 years ago, in many different occupations or trades. And while there was a great deal of diversity in how apprenticeships were carried out, there were also some important similarities. Placing apprentices was an informal process where a teenager was sent to live with a master and her/his family to learn the trade. The craft knowledge was closely guarded by the master, and would only be given to the apprentice once they had proved themselves worthy. This control of knowledge was reinforced by the Guilds, or the groups of masters who regulated the trade. Interestingly, a ratio of apprentices to masters was common in virtually all trades during this time.

What was also common was the nature of the complaints, from apprentices and masters. Some common complaints from apprentices were that they were not progressing quickly enough in learning their trade, and that they had to do “irrelevant and menial” work. On the other hand, masters often griped that their apprentices were not committed enough to the trade, that they think they know more than they do, and that they lack the work ethic of the master’s generation. Ironically, 500 years later the complaints on both sides are the same.

Character, then Craft

Despite the complaints, the apprenticeship system that emerged out of Europe was an integrated model of education, with a specific purpose. In fact, it is this purpose that made the complaints more likely, and not just that older generations always complain about younger generations. Specifically, the purpose of an apprenticeship was to, “instill positive and productive cultural values”, and to look after the “moral welfare” of that person. The apprentice was first taught to be a good citizen and to have strong moral character before they were entrusted with the technical skills of the trade.

This order of teaching was a matter of individual self-preservation for the master, and the long-term sustainability of the trade. The blacksmith, the baker and other skilled tradespersons were pillars of the community, and none of them would pass on their skills to a lazy or unscrupulous apprentice. No master tradesperson could afford to be seen as the person who certified someone who ripped off the community. And if bakers or blacksmiths as a whole were regarded as scoundrels, the whole trade could be put in jeopardy. Preventing this was one of the main reasons that guilds were formed in the first place.

Character Gets Pushed Aside

As the number of trades and their technical sophistication increased after the Industrial Revolution, more and more technical knowledge was required in order for apprentices to become competent journeypersons. Technical knowledge was easier to incorporate into college curriculums than the character of the student, and the art of the trade. Over many years, this is what happened across North America as colleges taught technical skills and abstract concepts in their classrooms and workshops. In the process, technical knowledge came to be regarded as the only “essential” knowledge required in a trade.

The development of character and craft were sidelined in part because colleges could not teach the “feel” of the trade on an actual jobsite. They also lost interest in teaching “the basics” like character, preferring instead to leave that up to the family or school system. One consequence of this is that people who want to get into a trade think they only need some technical skills and they’re ready to go. But an apprenticeship is a much more holistic model of education than the teaching of a few technical skills. And craft and character are, and always have been, the most important component of a trade, even if they’re not taught in many campus classrooms and workshops.

Lessons from History

At Trade Smart College, we are committed to re-introducing character and craft into the trades we support. We start by teaching character skills, so our students are set up for success during their internship with a company. And during this internship, they will begin to learn some of their tradecraft in real-world situations.

We do it this way because it respects the traditional order of apprenticeship learning. And just as importantly, we do it this way because our companies have told us that they are always interested in employees who have shown they can be professional. And they simply aren’t interested in students who don’t have good character as a pre-requisite.

Conclusion

Historically, the apprenticeship pathway was clear – a master took on an apprentice and taught them how to be a good citizen before passing on the technical arts of the trade. We have lost our way a bit on this, and have come to see technical skill as the only qualification for becoming an apprentice. We need to correct this so that people who want to go into the trades actually have the skills and mindset that companies use to select candidates for apprenticeship.

Starts September 3rd

Want to learn more about Trade Smart and our upcoming Fall Term? You can now schedule an in-person meeting with Carrie, our Student Success Manager. Pick the date and time that works best for you and that’s it, you’re one step closer to your path in the Trades.

Contact the Team

Hamilton Campus

Campus Hours

  • Mon- Fri: 7am- 5pm
  • Open House - See Schedule

The Physical And Mental Demands Of The Skilled Trades

tradesmart23 on July 10, 2024

The Physical And Mental Demands Of The Skilled Trades

From A Trades Guy…

The skilled trades are a fantastic career. I have worked in the skilled trades for 30 years and the opportunities and pathways provided to me have been fantastic. The skilled trades are unlike any other professional career. Every day you are challenged both mentally and physically to deliver exceptional results. Here are some of the physical and mental challenges a tradesperson might deal with on a regular basis.

Physical Challenges

The trades are tough on your body. Period. For the majority of the trades, a workday will consist of lifting items like tools, materials, parts, and other objects that need to be moved, used or fitted. Bending, reaching and manoeuvring your body are also a huge part of the job. Unlike shop class, in the field there are always items in the way of what you are working on. Also, what you are fixing, repairing or maintaining is hardly ever at a comfortable working level. Finally, sitting is rarely an option. Up and down the stairs multiple times per day, climbing ladders and lying on your stomach or back to get the job done are the norm.

The physical environment that skilled tradespeople work in can also be taxing on the body. Extreme heat and cold doesn’t mean things won’t break – actually it is the opposite. Items you need break down at the time when they are needed most. A/C units break on the hottest days and furnaces break on the coldest.

Weather is not the only environmental challenge. In the skilled trades dust, dirt, waste, fumes and other hazards are common. Tradespeople often wear dust masks, respirators and full face protection. I myself have had to wear SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) multiple times to complete a task.

Are the trades tougher on your body than office work? Hard to say. We are starting to recognize the dangers of sedentary jobs, especially those with high stress levels, on our physical health. In addition, jobs with lots of distractions seem to be increasing our anxiety levels and affecting our mental health.

Mental Challenges

Have you heard the term, “always on”? As a tradesperson your mind never stops. It can’t. There are too many things that can hurt you. Whether it is pressure from a pipe, electrical current, heavy objects or power tools, becoming complacent is not an option. On a construction site there are multiple people doing a variety of tasks. Having a sharp mind to keep you focused on your work while being aware of what is happening around you can be taxing.

Safety is one mental challenge, another is problem solving, troubleshooting and diagnosing. It is your job to find the problem as quickly as possible, come up with a solution, and repair the issue. This can happen multiple times per day. As a skilled trades professional, you are looked at to either have the answers or find out as quickly as possible.

One challenge that affects both our minds and our bodies is fatigue. In the skilled trades, the hours can be long and you can be required to work multiple days in a row. When you are tired, it can be hard on your body and it can be hard on your mind. It can be difficult to stay motivated and focused. It is easier to make mistakes or incorrect decisions when you are fatigued. Tiredness can be harmful, and it is up to you to be aware how it is affecting you.

How to Cope

Even with both the mental and physical challenges of the skilled trades, I find it to be an extremely rewarding career. Here are some of the things I have done over the years to help me.

Physical Exercise

Being physically active is a major part of helping cope with both the mental and physical challenges of the skilled trades. Strength training helps make the daily physical challenges easier, and it also releases the endorphins that help the mind. My physical outlet of choice is kickboxing. This allows me to work really hard physically and helps me mentally by leaving it all in the ring.

Rest

We are all different, and you need to know yourself. I used to be in awe of (still am) of people who can function well with little or no sleep. This is not me. I tried it. Nope! For me to function at my best, I know I need 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Rest is so important mentally and physically. I know when I am tired my mood is terrible, I do not eat properly and my judgement is flawed. So I take care of myself because I know that’s what I need. Downtime is so important for my recovery.

Some Things You Might Not Expect

Physical exercise and rest may seem like obvious suggestions for dealing with some of the demands of trades work. I’d like to touch on two more things that you might not expect.

Gratitude Journal

I was introduced to a gratitude journal a few years ago by my wife. It has helped with my mindset immensely. For some reason, we as humans like to focus on the negative. By journaling and reflecting on the positive impacts of each day, I have been happier and I sleep better than I have since I was a kid.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness for me is about being in the present. Feeling what you need to feel at that moment. If you are angry or sad, allow yourself to be present in the emotion. Feel it. Then move on. This, along with discovering why or what has triggered you to feel this emotion is a powerful way to overcome mental challenges. If you put in this work to find out what is bothering you, the emotion will no longer have power over you.

Conclusion

The skilled trades are a fantastic career choice. However, you need to take care of both your mental and physical well being to be a successful tradesperson. Exercise, eat well, remain active and rest when needed are great for your physical and mental health. Additionally, reflecting on the positives of your workday and using mindfulness to get to the root cause of your triggers will definitely help overcome some of the mental challenges of a skilled trades life.

Be well,
Joel

Contact the Team

Hamilton Campus

Campus Hours

  • Mon- Fri: 7am- 5pm
  • Open House - See Schedule

The Sizzle of the Trades

tradesmart23 on July 10, 2024

The Sizzle of the Trades

Becoming a skilled trades apprentice opens up a massive range of career possibilities. More people are being attracted to these opportunities, in part because HGTV and the various renovation and real-estate shows play up the glamorous parts of trades jobs. While this is all good for generating interest, it is not sufficient for actually getting people started on the pathway to these careers.

Selling the Sizzle

Almost 100 years ago, Elmer Wheeler advised salespeople to, “sell the sizzle, not the steak”. In other words, sell the excitement, the experience, or the dream that the product or service makes possible, not the thing itself. By doing so, he transformed sales and marketing processes, and it has long been the standard practice across most industries. It is so prevalent in fact that even governments, colleges and universities use it.

Governments and colleges sell the sizzle of the trades and other programs by promoting the excitement and opportunities available. To sell the trades, especially to women, youth, and new Canadians, governments fund trades days and “try the trades” programs in schools and community centres. To help encourage girls and women to go into science and engineering, colleges and universities run science camps and “lab days” for girls. And when it comes time to recruit students, colleges and universities show students the fancy labs and equipment rather than the custodian’s closet, health and safety binder, and researcher’s notebooks that keep the whole operation running.

At Some Point, the Steak Matters

There are obvious benefits to selling the sizzle, in the trades, in science, or indeed in any profession. We have to play up the possibilities to sell any career. So we turn on the sirens and let people slide down the firepole to get people to join the fire service and we showcase brand-name tools and sportscars to get people into the trades. It’s hard to attract firefighters by telling people that most of their day will be spent cleaning, organizing equipment, and waiting. Very few girls, or boys for that matter, will want to go into the trades if we tell them that 80% of trades work is staging – organizing, recording, maintaining, and transporting goods and tools, plus cleanup and disposal.

Having said that, there is a danger of selling past the close, to use another sales mantra. In this case, If we only expose people to the glamorous parts of a trade once they have decided to pursue it, we run the risk of creating unrealistic expectations. For instance, many students graduate from pre-apprenticeship programs thinking that they are fully qualified to do the exciting tasks of their trade and are unwilling to tackle the menial work. Plumbing neophytes want to install the multi-head shower, or would-be carpenters want to build the mahogany mantle, and they get frustrated when they’re told to sweep the shop instead. But sweeping the shop, sorting bolts, cutting boxes and moving pipe are all essential tasks in the trades. None of this is “just labour” or “not real trades work”. It is the steak that makes the sizzle possible.

Trades Work is Teamwork

There is another dimension to the reality of trades work, and it is something that doesn’t get covered in most programs and “try the trades” days. Trades work is fundamentally about team work. Every trades project gets done by a team, even if that team is only the tradesperson and the customer. This means that the needs of the team are paramount, and this plays out in several ways. The most basic requirement of being on a team is showing up on time and being ready to contribute more than your fair share. These are the go-to people on any team regardless of their skill, and they are the ones who consistently get picked for the next project.

Being a good team member is pretty similar to being a good citizen, or being a good professional. The skills are the same, and are based on taking personal responsibility, acting with integrity, and being willing to cheerfully put in the work required to get the job done. All of this is necessary before the glamour can happen. In any trade, be a professional and you will have jobs and opportunities. Be self-absorbed and you won’t.

How Companies Actually Award Apprenticeships

As I explain in another blog, taking on an apprentice is a costly endeavour for any company. The natural assumption then is that companies are looking for people to have some fairly well-developed technical skills in a trade before taking them as an apprentice. Lots of pre-apprenticeship programs are based on this idea, where the emphasis is on the amount of time a student spends in a workshop doing the “hands-on” work of the trade. This dovetails nicely with selling the sizzle, because students get to use some of the latest tools in clean, climate-controlled workspaces.

The problem is that companies do not choose apprentices based on their pre-existing technical skills or how well they use tools in an artificial environment. Instead they hire, and fire, on professionalism. Pre-existing technical wizardry is an afterthought at best. Being a professional is rarely glamorous, but it is the steak that makes the sizzle possible. And it is the only thing our Trade Smart certified companies look for when they decide to bring someone on as an apprentice.

Conclusion

There are tons of great opportunities in the trades in Ontario, and across the country. And there is some glamour and glory in most of these possibilities. But that comes later, after one has become a consummate professional and can be trusted to approach every task with integrity. As in most other careers, the hard work comes first.

Contact the Team

Hamilton Campus

Campus Hours

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  • Open House - See Schedule

Company Costs in Hiring Apprentices and Why it Matters

tradesmart23 on July 10, 2024

Company Costs in Hiring Apprentices and Why it Matters

An apprenticeship is a form of education. Knowledge and skill are transmitted to students who earn a credential, and in many trades the credential is required in order to work in that trade. What is different about an apprenticeship vs college or university is where the learning takes place. And this means that the costs of training are distributed differently as well. This has implications for how easy or difficult it is to get an apprenticeship, and for the kind of training a student should pursue in order to become an apprentice. And because it can be so costly to take on an apprentice, this is another reason why students should develop their professional skills first, not their technical skills.

A Degree or Diploma Versus an Apprenticeship

In a traditional post-secondary degree, a college employs staff and teachers and has a physical infrastructure with classrooms and labs, libraries and perhaps residences. Students pay tuition and fees to cover the costs of these services and for the opportunity to learn what is required to earn the credential.

When students graduate, they enter a job market and companies sort through the various candidates and choose the ones they want to hire. Companies do not pay anything towards the skills and knowledge that their new employees have acquired. In other words, students (and governments) pay the full freight for traditional degrees and diplomas while the companies that hire these graduates pay nothing.

In standard economic theory, there is some justification for this distribution of costs. Most of the skills and knowledge that students learn in a college program are general and transferable. This means they can be used at any organization, so in theory companies should pay as little as possible for skills that an employee can readily take with them to a competitor.

In an apprenticeship, the costs of education are distributed differently. This is something that isn’t often talked about or understood, but it has a big impact on the availability of apprenticeships and how they are awarded. In apprenticeship education, companies take on the lion’s share of the costs so they are selective in who they educate and how they provide training. There are three main costs that companies incur when they take on apprentices: Supervision and instruction; decreased productivity, and; mistakes and corrections. These costs are comparable to, and in many cases greater than, the wages an apprentice earns.

Supervision and Instruction

Apprentices must be supervised and taught by journeypersons or masters because this is the central dynamic of the whole model. In most cases, this is an intensive form of learning with a low apprentice-to-master ratio. In Ontario in most compulsory trades, the ratio is 1:1 – one master for every apprentice. This is a political choice rather than a necessity because there are many fields where one expert can teach several novices at once. For instance, aspiring doctors serve as interns where the ratio is often 10 interns to one doctor, so there is no magical limit on this ratio.

When a journeyperson is supervising and teaching an apprentice, they are taking time from their regular job to provide these benefits to the apprentice. The company pays the journeyperson for this service, but it is not work that can normally be charged to a customer. You will rarely see an invoice with a charge for, “master to apprentice instruction, 2 hours” on it. Journeypersons are often paid $50/hour or more so the real cost to the company is significant.

Decreased Productivity

Technically, the fact that companies cannot charge a customer for the instructional work a journeyperson performs is a loss of productivity. However, there is another element here, and that is the slower pace of work that occurs when an apprentice is involved. Showing apprentices how to perform a task takes time, and the apprentice is never as good at it as the journeyperson until they gain years of experience. Sometimes companies can charge a customer for this, but if they have bid for a job, they often have to leave out the extra hours required in order for their bid to be competitive.

It is true that having an apprentice around can also increase productivity at times. Having an extra pair of hands around to haul goods and tools, clean up, organize and pack the van and many other tasks is beneficial and may offset the extra time it takes for the apprentice to perform other work. It is important to remember though, that companies can simply hire a labourer to do some of these supposedly menial tasks, without taking on that person as an apprentice. Apprentices earn more and their wages go up every year, so there is still a cost to hiring an apprentice. But that extra cost is worth it for the company and the apprentice if both sides are committed to the relationship. The company trains someone who can take on more and more responsibility and the apprentice gets a proper understanding of how important the “menial” work is in any project.

Mistakes and Errors

Entry-level employees make mistakes in every profession. In some jobs, these errors have little to no cost. For instance, college teaching assistants and graduate students often make mistakes in marking papers and exams until they get more experience. But these mistakes have no real cost. Students complain and the grade gets changed and life goes on. But it isn’t that simple in the trades. When an apprentice doesn’t dig a trench to the proper specifications, an entire job can be held up while the mistake is corrected. This is a real cost when the job is delayed, or a sub-trade has to charge more because of the hold-up. Similarly, if an apprentice stages the pipe or lumber and it blocks the access route, delays, cancellations and extra charges ensue.

Neither of these scenarios is catastrophic, but that is by design. No employer in their right mind is going to allow an unproven apprentice to perform a project where the costs are high. If a toilet isn’t seated properly and it leaks, or a wiring mistake starts an electrical fire, the damage quickly escalates. Companies have to minimize these risks for their own survival, so they limit the potential damage they can do until they prove themselves capable of handling more technical tasks.

Conclusion

An apprenticeship is a form of learning that is distinct from a college diploma. The emphasis is on learning the technical skills of a trade. We often point to the fact that the purpose of an apprenticeship is to learn the technical skills of a trade, and that apprentices get paid, as the distinguishing features of the model. While these are indeed features, it is also important to understand that the costs of apprenticeships are also different. Companies take on the majority of the costs in an apprenticeship, so they have to be selective about who they will accept. In practice, this means that companies will only take a chance on people who have demonstrated their ability to be a professional. This means that would-be apprentices should take programs that focus on professionalism over trade-specific skills if they want a company to make this investment in them.

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Hamilton Campus

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  • Open House - See Schedule

Should Your College Find You an Apprenticeship? Matching Students with Local Jobs in the Trades

tradesmart23 on July 10, 2024

Should Your College Find You an Apprenticeship?
Matching Students with Local Jobs in the Trades

Students go to college or university to get jobs. This is the overwhelming reason that students and parents give for going to college and it has been true for decades. Despite the other reasons why people pursue post-secondary education, and there are some, it is naive to think that they outweigh the importance of getting a job. So the obvious question is, “should your college or university find you your first job opportunity?”

Colleges Have No Obligation to Find You a Job

The first answer to this question is No, a college has no responsibility for finding you a job. There are two main reasons for this. First, going to college is about so much more than getting a job, and to focus on employment minimizes all of these other benefits. People go to college to expand their minds, to learn new things, meet new friends and hopefully become better citizens. This is the real benefit of post-secondary education, so to reduce the experience to a mere exchange – tuition for a job opportunity – is the wrong way to think about it.

The second reason is that a college, or a professor, cannot control what you will do with a job opportunity, how much effort you will put in, or whether you will show up every day with a good attitude. “We gave them all the knowledge, now it’s up to them to use it and find a job”, is the common refrain. Since colleges cannot control how their graduates will perform, they should not be obligated to find them a job.

Colleges Should Find You a Job

The other answer is Yes, colleges should be responsible for finding you that first job. Every institution, implicitly or explicitly, sells seats in their classrooms with the promise of a better job. “What career are you interested in?, “What are your career goals?”, or “What do you want to do with your degree?” are some of the most common questions that college recruiters ask potential students. Their answers are then focused on explaining how some of their programs are great preparation for the student’s goals. It’s a very effective strategy, but the message is clear – getting a degree or diploma gets you a better job.

When a student, or their parents, pay thousands of dollars a year for a credential and they are encouraged to believe that this will get them a job, they have a right to expect that there will be a job when they graduate. Yes it’s complicated, and yes it’s a lot of work to ensure that students have a chance at employment when they graduate. So if the college doesn’t know how many jobs will be available when students finish, or they know there are far fewer jobs than graduates, students have a right to be frustrated.

We Start with the Opportunity

Students come to Trade Smart College because they want to become a journeyperson in a specific trade. We feel obligated to maximise those chances by teaching the right things at the right time. But more importantly, we feel it is our responsibility to make sure there is at least a potential entry-level job available when they graduate. And not just any job. We want to help address the shortage of skilled tradespeople, so we want our students to get into apprenticeships. This is the starting point for great trades careers.

We find these apprenticeship opportunities locally, in Hamilton and the surrounding area. The reason is that skill shortages, job openings, and company expansions are almost always solved locally, not regionally or provincially. The province may need 100,000 skilled tradespeople, but that shortage isn’t going to be solved unless qualified people are matched with apprenticeship opportunities. Simply dumping 100,000 newly minted graduates into the province won’t work. College to work connections must be done locally, in local labour markets.

If Everyone Graduates at the Same Time, Lots of People Don’t Get Jobs

Many colleges offer their programs 2 or 3 times per year. One of the disadvantages for students in this model is that there are 2 or 3 large clumps of graduates each year, meaning that lots of people are competing for the same jobs at the same time. Some Career Colleges have recognized this problem and offer multiple start dates to spread out the number of graduates at any one time.

At Trade Smart College, we only graduate 120 students a year, and we only take 25 students per class. We don’t dump a bunch of students into the market so they can all compete with each other for a small number of jobs. We talk to our certified companies first and get a sense from them whether they will be able to take somebody in a couple months or not. If the answer is no, we move on to our other companies to see if they can take people. And if we get 5 spots in a trade, we take five students for that cohort. If we don’t get any, we don’t take any students in that trade for that cohort. It’s not a guarantee by any means, but at least it’s a fair shake for the students and the companies to get what they both want – a job and a good employee.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to get into a skilled trade, the most difficult part of the journey is finding a company or union that will sign you as an apprentice. You can have the highest grades, or demonstrate superior technical skills in a lab, but none of that matters unless you have a genuine opportunity at earning an apprenticeship. Some colleges leave it up to you to find those opportunities. At Trade Smart College, we think that is our job. If you agree, contact us for more information about our program.

Contact the Team

Hamilton Campus

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  • Mon- Fri: 7am- 5pm
  • Open House - See Schedule

How to Become a Skilled Trades Apprentice in Ontario in 2024

tradesmart23 on June 18, 2024

How to Become a Skilled Trades Apprentice in Ontario in 2024

The first step in taking advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the skilled trades is to become an apprentice. We get questions from prospective students almost every day that ask us how to do this. They’ve often done an online search, but even after that they don’t have a clear picture of how to become an apprentice. While the actual steps seem simple, the reality is that becoming an apprentice is the most difficult part of the journey into the skilled trades.

The Four Steps

If you go to the Ontario government’s website, you can find the four steps you need to complete in order to become an apprentice. https://www.ontario.ca/page/start-apprenticeship Those steps are:

  1. Find out if you qualify
  2. Find an employer or sponsor
  3. Apply for an apprenticeship
  4. Sign a Training Agreement

So what do these steps mean? Starting with step 1, in order to be eligible for an apprenticeship in Ontario you must be at least 16 years old and have legal permission to work in Canada. In some trades there are also some educational requirements, most commonly a high school diploma. The educational requirements are intentionally low because an apprenticeship is first and foremost a form of education, more than it is a form  of work. 

Assuming you meet the requirements above, the next step is to find an organization  (a company or union) who will sponsor you in your apprenticeship. You can send your resume to companies or knock on doors and hope that somebody will take you on as an apprentice. If they do, you can then apply for an apprenticeship, and then you work with that organization to sign a “Registered Training Agreement” with the government. After that, you are officially an apprentice and on your way to an amazing career in the trades.

If only it were that simple.

Step 2 is a Doozy

While these steps are technically correct, they tell you almost nothing about how to actually get an apprenticeship. This is like saying, there are only four steps for running a marathon:

  1. Buy shoes and the necessary equipment
  2. Train yourself to be able to run a marathon
  3. Sign up for a marathon
  4. Complete the race

If you said to a marathoner, “I can now run a marathon because someone told me these four steps”, they will probably pat you on the head and wish you good luck. And the same is true for the steps to become an apprentice. In both cases, there is so much that goes into each step that just knowing them does you no good. And in both cases, it is step 2 that prevents almost everyone from becoming an apprentice or running a marathon.

For apprenticeships, the reality is that even if your age, work status and educational background qualify you to become an apprentice, the same is true for thousands, perhaps millions, of other people. So “finding an employer or sponsor” is actually the most difficult part of the entire process of getting into the trades. It is more difficult than learning the technical skills of any trade, writing the exams in compulsory trades, or finding a job once you’re licensed. 

Nobody Gets Signed Without a Connection

The main reason why step 2 in becoming an apprentice is so difficult is because the cost of sponsoring an apprentice, for a company or a union, is very high. As I mentioned above, apprenticeships are primarily educational experiences, not work experiences. We as a society have decided that training people in the skilled trades is better done on a jobsite than in a classroom. So companies or unions have to provide significant resources to train new recruits in the technical skills of a trade. I’ll break down these costs in more detail in a future blog but the main costs are: having a journeyperson or master available as a teacher, decreased productivity, mistakes and corrections, and turnover costs.

Organizations cannot afford to invest these resources on just anyone. And when they receive over 200 applications for an apprenticeship opportunity, all with roughly the same  qualifications, they have no rational way to pick the best candidate. Moreover, most places have been burned in the past when they have taken on a candidate and set aside the time and money to train them, only to have the candidate quit in the first week or two. Given how frequently this happens, the only sensible thing for a company or union to do is to pick people who have a connection to the organization. Is your uncle in the union, or does a family friend own a plumbing company? If so, you have a reasonable chance of being sponsored as an apprentice. If you don’t have a connection, your chances are abysmal.

How to Find a Sponsor if You Don’t Have a Connection

While relying on connections is the rational, and perhaps the only, way for organizations to screen apprentice candidates, it is not sustainable, does not promote diversity, nor does it help fill the critical shortage of tradespeople. So if you want to get into the trades but you don’t have a connection, there are a couple of things you can do. The two most common approaches are to take a pre-apprenticeship program at a college to learn some skills in your trade, or take a job as a general labourer and hope to get signed as an apprentice later. 

The problem with getting a job as a labourer is that you are still waiting for an apprenticeship opportunity. Some labourers work for years before getting signed, and for others the opportunity never materializes. If you take a pre-apprenticeship program, at most colleges you still have to find your own apprenticeship. And you will graduate with dozens of others, so you are all competing for the same spots. 

At Trade Smart College, we don’t admit a student until after we have secured an apprenticeship opportunity for them. We don’t guarantee that you’ll become an apprentice because you still have to earn it, but at least you know you are working towards an actual position. 

Conclusion

Becoming a skilled trades apprentice in Ontario is more difficult than it should be given that we need over 100,000 more people in the sector in the next five years. While the theoretical steps are straightforward, the reality is that getting an apprenticeship without a trades connection is virtually impossible. If you want to get into the trades and you have a connection, you should use it. If you don’t, at Trade Smart College we currently have companies with apprenticeship opportunities in five different trades. Contact us for more information.

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We Need More People in the Skilled Trades

tradesmart23 on June 18, 2024

We Need More People in the Skilled Trades

For decades, we’ve been hearing about the shortage of people entering the skilled trades, and it seems like the problem is getting worse, not better. Projected shortages are getting larger, and the reason is that the trades supposedly have an image problem. I don’t think it is that simple, and better marketing of the opportunities in the trades is not going to fix the shortage.

The Trades Shortage By the Numbers

There are lots of estimates of the shortage of workers in the trades. The Ontario government says that over 100,000 new skilled tradespeople will be needed in the province’s construction industry alone, as it tries to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-skilled-trades-training-1.6993029. Across the country, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum estimates that 163,000 new, fully certified tradespeople will be required by 2025, which is only a year away.

The federal and provincial/territorial governments are all pushing out programs, incentives, tax credits and grants to address the problem. Most of these initiatives target one of three areas: raising awareness of the great opportunities in the trades; employer incentives to hire apprentices, and; education and training programs, often targeted at getting under-represented groups into the trades. If you look at the public pronouncements and press releases, they all seem to be working but we still have a shortage. [https://trades.ontariocolleges.ca/discover/major-labour-shortage-means-huge-demand-for-skilled-trades-and-technology-workers/].

It’s a Marketing Problem

The common refrain is that despite all the grants and incentives, people just don’t want to go into the trades because it is seen as a crappy place to work. For the last 50 years, every young person in North America has been told to go to university so they can have a better life. The only thing wrong with this messaging is that it worked too well, and now a university degree is believed to be the only route to prosperity and happiness. It was absurd 50 years ago and is even more absurd today, but like an irrelevant monarch, the residue of the advice is still around today. 

Trades work has been one of the many casualties of this advice. Life in the trades has, for several decades, been effectively characterized as “nasty, brutish and short”, to borrow Thomas Hobbes’ famous line, in comparison to the life of a university grad. One would only consider the trades as a booby prize if university was out of reach intellectually or financially. Thankfully, we have begun to correct this misperception. 

Life is Better in the Trades

Governments, industry groups and many public colleges have been promoting the trades quite effectively in recent years. We are gradually coming around to the idea that there really are great opportunities when one starts as an apprentice. A person isn’t condemned to die on the tools. They can go into a wide range of different jobs, from sales and project management to digital transformation and business ownership. These campaigns have been so effective that parents and some high school guidance counsellors now provide young people with a much more accurate picture of a career in the trades, including how the hopes of university graduates often don’t work out.

So the shortage of people entering, and staying, in the trades is no longer a marketing problem. The real challenge is that the pathway into the trades has been neglected for so long that it is difficult to navigate even for those who do want to take it. There are three main problems on the apprenticeship pathway. I’ll briefly address one of those below, and will cover the others in future posts.

Matching the Supply of Apprentices With Demand in a Local Economy

One of the problems with the huge numbers of apprentices required at a provincial or national level is that we don’t think about how this plays out in a specific city or region. If Ontario needs 100,000 tradespeople in construction, most colleges will open pre-apprenticeship programs and take as many students as they can. And the students will come, because they hear the same message about the terrible need for tradespeople, and they think there’s opportunity there. But the numbers get a bit wonky when we fail to match the actual demand for apprentices in a local economy with the supply coming out of colleges. In some cases, colleges are producing over 200 pre-apprentice graduates annually in each construction trade, and they release them onto the labour market in 2-3 batches per year. Yet the number of entry-level positions in that region is often less than 50. This is a recipe for disappointment, and there is a better way.

At Trade Smart College, we start our student recruitment process by finding out how many entry-level jobs we can secure. And we don’t admit a student unless we have an apprenticeship position for them. This is by no means a job guarantee. We don’t expect every student to pass our diploma, or to meet the requirements of their practicum employer. But at least we have an idea of how many jobs are available, in which trades, in the local area, right now. That’s a lot of qualifiers, and it makes the recruitment and admissions process more difficult. But our students are paying us to get them ready for an apprenticeship. We don’t feel it is right to prepare them for jobs that don’t exist.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that we need more people to start, and to succeed, in the trades. Our economy, locally, provincially, and nationally depends on it. We have largely cracked the marketing problem, and most people know that there are great careers in the trades that rival, and in many cases outpace, the careers available with a university degree. But there are still problems on the apprenticeship pathway, and we must try to match local levels of supply and demand for apprentices. Otherwise, the shortage will continue.

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Hamilton Campus

Campus Hours

  • Mon- Fri: 7am- 5pm
  • Open House - See Schedule