Skilled tradespeople are the backbone of Canada’s future. Let’s get them building by reforming licensing to be based on a person’s skills rather than the hours they’ve trained.
Talented, hardworking Canadians must find it easy, rewarding and prestigious to enter skilled trades; removing redundant training, expanding and promoting the ecosystem of training options is essential to attracting and celebrating the best talent.
Transitioning to a competency-based licensing system, where skilled individuals prove their abilities rather than logging hours, will quickly fill gaps in the trades workforce and boost economic growth.
Goals
Canada urgently needs more, high quality, tradespeople. These jobs are highly skilled, highly paid, and essential to our economic success. But, today huge barriers make it difficult and unrewarding to enter the trades. We can solve this by reforming licensing to be based on competency rather than training time. This will allow more Canadians to become tradespeople faster. Our targets:
- Raise apprenticeship certification rates from 36%1 to over 70% within 5 years.
- Cut average apprenticeship time by 50%, from 4 years (8,000 hours) to 2 years through competency-based licensing.
Background and Motivation
If we want to build Canada, we need skilled tradespeople. Without carpenters, electricians, plumbers, millwrights and mechanics, critical infrastructure projects, manufacturing, and essential services simply can’t move forward.
However our trades are on a path of decline. One-third of Ontario’s trades workers are nearing retirement, and Canada will lose approximately 700,000 of its 4 million skilled tradespeople by 20282. This shortage is already hurting our economy—over 80% of Canadian manufacturers have reported for two years straight that they have lost business opportunities due to worker shortages, costing the economy $13 billion annually3,4. Companies often turn away contracts for automotive parts or industrial machinery simply because they lack qualified welders, electricians, and machinists.
At the heart of this problem is an outdated apprenticeship system that makes it unprofitable to pursue a career in the trades, turning away talented young people, those looking to reskill, people wanting to move within Canada, and high-skilled immigrants.
Currently, depending on the trade, apprentices commonly need to complete 8,000 hours, or more of training regardless of their actual skills5. This forces people to wait unnecessarily before using the skills they pick up, wasting time and money while they earn low wages during training.
Imagine, a skilled immigrant who arrives in Canada with all the know-how to work as a framer (someone who creates building structures) but they must settle for a lower paying, less skilled job because they can’t afford to wait for the period of training to finish. Or, consider an experienced welder who wants to become a millwright to improve their pay—under the current system, they must start from scratch, spending years re-learning skills they already partly possess.
Combined with this lengthy licensing period, trades also suffer today from being perceived as lower prestige careers compared to traditional university degrees, despite being highly skilled, well-paid, and essential to our economy. This outdated perception combines with inaccessible training to limit young Canadians’ interest in pursuing trades, exacerbating workforce shortages.
We propose shifting this outdated system to competency-based licensing supported by a rich, well-marketed ecosystem of new training programs. We will test to see if people know the skills they need not check if they have completed the requisite hours. By recognizing actual skills rather than time in training and offering more on-ramps at the appropriate time we can quickly integrate skilled workers into the economy, enabling faster employment, higher earnings, and solving urgent shortages in construction, manufacturing, and housing sectors.
Real-World Solutions
- Ontario’s portable skill certification6 allows someone certified in residential wiring to immediately find employment rather than waiting years. For instance, a newly certified residential electrician can quickly secure work, earn a competitive salary, and continue advancing their career by adding skills progressively without unnecessary retraining.
- Germany’s dual apprenticeship model7 combines practical on-the-job training with vocational schooling, emphasizing skill mastery. A German apprentice carpenter qualifies faster by demonstrating their competence in specific tasks, such as framing a building or installing cabinetry, instead of completing a set number of hours. This results in quicker workforce entry and reduced financial burdens.
- South Korea’s Meister Schools8 creates fast track learning environments that rapidly produce highly skilled graduates ready for immediate employment in industries like robotics, advanced manufacturing, and automotive engineering. Meister graduates have over a 90% job placement rate, demonstrating how skill-aligned vocational training can swiftly fill workforce gaps.
What Needs To Be Done
The central problem in Canada is an outdated framework for licensing skilled trades that prevents people from developing the appropriate specific skills then being able to use them. To solve this we will switch to a federal competency based program, that is modular, accessible, and has an ecosystem of training and licensing options so that anyone, regardless of background, can prove their abilities and be able to use them to build Canada.
- Establish a National Competency Framework : Develop a detailed, uniform set of skill definitions and standards recognized in every province and territory. Clearly defined skills, allow people to learn specific competencies that are useful immediately, and ensure that tradespeople certified in one region can seamlessly work across the country, eliminating unnecessary retraining and duplication of qualifications - helping to address one of the key non-tariff interprovincial trade barriers.
- Reform Red Seal Licensing to Competency-Based Modular Systems : Use the competency framework to transition from rigid, hour-based training to flexible, skill-based assessments. Apprentices could certify in specific tasks (such as residential electrical wiring or commercial plumbing) as soon as they demonstrate competency, enabling faster workforce integration and reducing time and financial barriers.
- Empower Third-party Certification Bodies : Allow reputable industry-led organizations to independently verify skills and manage certifications to create more on ramps into the trades. Alongside the Red Seal, organizations like the Canadian Welding Bureau could directly certify welders’ competencies, reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks and ensuring quick response to industry demands.
- Launch Industry-Aligned Fast-Track Programs : Implement new targeted short-term training courses (8-20 weeks) designed in close partnership with industry leaders. These programs could quickly equip workers with the exact skills employers urgently need, enabling immediate employment and addressing critical shortages swiftly.
- Expand Skilled Trades Promotion Programs : Significantly expand initiatives based on Ontario’s FAST program to actively market and integrate skilled trades into high school and university curricula nationwide, emphasizing career prestige, competitive earnings, and essential economic contributions. Provide higher status degrees to those that have both the technical/formal understanding and the real-world experience. This expanded approach will attract talented young Canadians by reframing trades as a prestigious and highly desirable career path, accelerating workforce entry and addressing critical skilled labour shortages.
- Harmonize Occupational Health & Safety Standards : Adopt consistent, nationwide safety regulations, replacing the current patchwork of provincial standards. This will simplify compliance, enhance workplace safety, and allow tradespeople to move freely and work safely across Canada without unnecessary retraining or confusion.
Common Questions
- Won’t lowering hour requirements reduce quality? No. Today’s licensing is meant to protect quality but only tests for time on the job. By switching to standardized skill assessments we will be able to ensure a high quality is achieved rather than relying on proxies like time spent learning.
- Is modular licensing practical? Yes. Industry strongly supports modular licensing as it quickly addresses labour shortages.
- Will it increase complexity across provinces? No. A unified national competency framework simplifies standards and improves mobility.
- Could rapid certification lead to more safety risks? Harmonized safety standards and stringent assessments ensure safety remains paramount.
- How will current tradespeople be affected? Current tradespeople licensing will not be affected. By introducing these new standards they will find it easier to gain additional licenses and practice other skills they already have.
Conclusion
We need more tradespeople with high quality skills, fast. Canada must urgently adopt competency-based licensing, cutting barriers to skilled trades. Within five years, these changes will significantly boost economic growth, ease labour shortages, and improve national prosperity.
