Ralph Cerasuolo, Founder and CEO of Skilled Trades College, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the incentives for young people to work in skill trades.\n <\/p>\n
A skilled trades expert says a change in messaging could entice more young people to enter the industry, which is in the midst of a worsening shortage. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe numbers are staggering,\u201d Ralph Cerasuolo, founder and CEO of Vaughan, Ont.-based Skilled Trades College, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cAcross North America, for every seven tradespeople that leave the space, it\u2019s replaced with one, so it\u2019s getting worse and worse and there\u2019s challenges with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As with many industries in Canada, the bulk of the skilled trades workforce is approaching retirement age, and there aren\u2019t enough young workers to take their place. <\/p>\n
Cerasuolo said one of the main issues facing the sector, in addition to broad demographic changes, is a tendency for young people to pursue university degrees over hands-on post-secondary training in the trades through colleges or apprenticeship programs. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, 20 or 30 years ago, the message was to encourage your kids to go to university, so currently, most kids have that option in mind, and 70 per cent of post-secondary choices are university,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message should be changed, and it is changing, thankfully, to (say) that skilled trades are a viable career path, and let\u2019s face it, not everybody\u2019s destined to be a university graduate. Skilled trades are a very important part of our economy and a driving force of everything that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Government support <\/p>\n
Addressing the shortage of skilled labourers in Canada is a priority for the federal government, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney. In the leadup to his election this spring, the Liberal Party released a plan to cover apprenticeship training costs up to $8,000 for those entering the industry. <\/p>\n