Pathways indicators for registered apprentices in Canada, 2022
Released: 2024-06-14
Apprenticeship training programs play a vital role in cultivating the knowledge and expertise of tradespeople, who are integral to Canada's workforce. The lockdowns and closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impeded the ability of apprentices to fulfill their program requirements, which include in-class study and on-the-job training, thereby delaying their certification.
The most common duration for an apprenticeship program is four years, so many apprentices in the 2022 cohort started their training in 2018. Therefore, their training was affected by the pandemic. In 2022, the percentage of apprentices who received their certificates (certification rates) within a program's allotted timeframe was 19.1%. This is an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous year, ending two consecutive years of decline, which began in 2020. However, the rate remains below the pre-pandemic level of 21.8% in 2019.
Chart 1
Annual certification rates of apprentices in Canada
Certification rates gradually recovering to pre-pandemic levels for some trades
The pandemic had diverse effects across the trades and this is reflected in the steady recovery of certification rates in some trades, but not others. For example, the certification rates of more than half of the 25 selected Red Seal trades (see Note to readers) recorded year-over-year gains in 2022. Most notably, ironworkers (+8.7 percentage points), powerline technicians (+7.3 percentage points) and industrial electricians (+5.4 percentage points) posted the largest percentage point increases in certification rates, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels in many cases.
Despite overall employment growth in 2022, the certification rates for certain trades have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic levels. In fact, there has been a continuous decline after 2019 for some trades. This was observed among hairstylists (-13.3 percentage points from 2019 to 2022), cooks (-13.1 percentage points), truck and transport mechanics (-8.6 percentage points), and refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics (-3.8 percentage points).
Chart 2
Percentage point change in certification rates of seven selected trades, Canada, 2019 to 2022 and 2021 to 2022
Female apprentices have lower growth in certification rates than male apprentices
In 2022, certification rates for female apprentices rose by 0.3 percentage points, which was a smaller increase compared with the 0.6 percentage point growth observed among male apprentices. Male apprentices saw their certification rates rise over the previous year's cohort in trades such as landscape horticulturist, which rose to 21.3% (+2.1 percentage points), and automotive service technician, which increased to 18.1% (+0.4 percentage points). Meanwhile, female apprentices experienced declines in these areas, with certification rates of 18.5% for landscape horticulturists (-10.5 percentage points) and 10.3% for automotive service technicians (-8.2 percentage points). However, these decreases were partially offset by increases in certification rates in trades with a concentration of female apprentices, such as early childhood educator (+6.3 percentage points) and hairstylist (+1.8 percentage points).
Across the provinces, certification rates in Quebec are closest to their pre-pandemic level
In 2022, certification rates varied across Canada. Quebec (+2.4 percentage points) and Ontario (+1.5 percentage points) recorded higher certification rates for the 2022 cohort than the 2021 cohort. According to the Labour Force Survey, the construction sector in both provinces, where many apprentices and certified journeypersons are employed, experienced robust growth in employment (+3.9% year over year in Quebec and +9.2% year over year in Ontario). Employment in the construction sector in both provinces surpassed pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019. By contrast, certification rates of apprentices in British Columbia (-1.5 percentage points), Alberta (-1.0 percentage point) and Manitoba (-1.0 percentage point) continued to decrease.
Chart 3
Percentage point change in certification rates, by geography, 2019 to 2022 and 2021 to 2022
When comparing the 2022 certification rates with those from 2019, before the pandemic, all provinces had lower rates. Quebec (-0.8 percentage points) had the smallest gap relative to the 2019 level, while Saskatchewan (-6.6 percentage points) had the largest gap, followed by Ontario (-5.2 percentage points) and Alberta (-4.7 percentage points).
Note to readers
Context
This release includes data from the 2022 Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS) as a part of the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform. Apprenticeship pathway data include information on certification, continuation and discontinuation rates at 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 times the program duration, corresponding to four, six and eight years after registration for most programs. For more information on the concepts and the methodology used in this study, consult "Pathways indicators for registered apprentices in Canada, 2021." This issue is part of the publication, Technical Reference Guides for the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (Catalogue number 37-20-0001).
Data, definitions and concepts
Apprenticeship pathway indicators were derived for all trades at the aggregated level and for selected trades at disaggregated levels, including the 25 Red Seal trades and 5 non-Red Seal trades that account for most apprentices from 2008 to 2022. Four non-Red Seal trades—child and youth worker, developmental services worker, early childhood educator, and educational assistant—are only considered designated trades with apprenticeship programs in Ontario.
Certification: The requirements for granting a certificate vary by jurisdiction in Canada. In most instances, apprentices are issued a certificate when they have completed requirements such as supervised on-the-job training, technical training and passing one or more examinations. Most trade qualifiers, meanwhile, become certified once they pass an examination.
Continuation: The proportion of apprentices who are continuing a given apprenticeship program at the end of the reporting year.
Cohort: The group of apprentices who finished their program duration by the end of a given calendar year. The most common program duration is four years; however, it varies from one to five years across jurisdictions and trades. As a result, a cohort is a group of apprentices who start their training in different years, depending on the program duration. For example, the 2022 cohort is composed of apprentices who started a one-year program in 2021, a two-year program in 2020, a three-year program in 2019, a four-year program in 2018 and a five-year program in 2017.
Designated trades: Trades for which apprenticeship training and trade qualifications are available in Canada. These trades are governed by provincial and territorial jurisdictions that determine the trades for which apprenticeship training is made available and certificates are granted. The jurisdictions also determine which designated trades require certification to work unsupervised in the trade. Data from the RAIS include only trades designated in at least one province or territory.
Registered apprentices: Individuals in a supervised work training program in a designated trade within their provincial or territorial jurisdiction. To complete the training, the apprentice must be registered with the appropriate governing body, usually a ministry of education, ministry of labour or trade-specific industry governing body.
Red Seal and non-Red Seal programs: The Red Seal program sets common standards to assess the skills of tradespeople across Canada. Journeypersons who meet the Red Seal standards through examination receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial or territorial trade certificates. There are 54 trades at the national level for which common Red Seal standards are currently available. Non-Red Seal trades, by contrast, do not have interprovincial standards. Many non-Red Seal trades do not have an examination requirement to work in the trade.
Products
The product "Canadian Apprenticeship Longitudinal Indicators" is now available as part of the series Statistics Canada — Data Visualization Products (71-607-X).
The following technical reference guide is also available: "Pathways indicators for registered apprentices in Canada, 2021." This guide is part of the Technical Reference Guides for the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (37200001).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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