Nunavut government asks for feedback on Apprenticeship Act review
Public consultations continue this week
Sondar Ikuutaq, a student at Baker Lake’s Jonah Amitnaaq secondary school, tries his hand at welding in 2016 during Trades Awareness and Skills Knowledge Week at the school. The Nunavut government will be in Baker Lake this week to conduct community consultations on its review of the Apprenticeship Act. (File photo)
The Nunavut government wants the public’s feedback on its review of the Apprenticeship Act.
From Jan. 2020 to June 2020, the Department of Family Services will hold community consultation sessions throughout Nunavut.
“Discussions will focus on preparing and supporting Nunavummiut for success by enhancing the quality and delivery of apprenticeship programs,” a news release said.
The consultations are part of the government’s review of Nunavut’s Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification Act. The act has not been fully updated since it was first enacted as law in the Northwest Territories in 1988.
The 2020 public consultations schedule is as follows:
• Baker Lake: January 27–31, 2020
• Rankin Inlet: February 3–7, 2020
• Arviat: March 23–27, 2020
• Clyde River: March 2–6, 2020
• Iqaluit: March 16–20, 2020
Consultations took place in Pangnirtung and Cambridge Bay in Oct. 2019 and Nov. 2019, the release said.
To provide comments, receive additional information regarding the consultations, and browse points of discussion and community schedules, Nunavummiut can go to this webpage.
that’s the worst pair of welding goggles i have ever seen.
hard for a kid trying his hand at soldering and plumbing without proper welding tools.
😉
good job kid. keep it up.
Yes, you need to fix that photo caption Nunatsiaq News. That young man is soldering, not welding.
The apprenticeship program cannot guarantee full time work for apprentices, but it requires applicants to quit their current job and be “on call” for apprenticeship hours, hours that may not come for weeks or months.
In what world does this make sense?
That’s not the way apprenticeship works in Nunavut. An apprentice works for an employer who has a journeyperson who is able to supervise the apprentice. In this way, all the hours the apprentice works are counted towards fulfilling their apprenticeship requirements.
There are certainly challenges in the smaller communities with having the necessary journeypersons to supervise apprentices. The Government of Nunavut should be looking at some creative ways to provide these apprentices with the supervision they need to complete their apprenticeships.
in case you aren’t aware this is the same all over Canada. when i did my apprenticeship i had to chase work and put in my time until i finished my apprenticeship and got my red seal.
I know there used to be some union-sponsored apprenticeship programs in the South that required an individual to sign on with a hiring hall and wait for work at unionized worksites to in order to build their hours. I thought the original post might have been referring to that type of model. I’m not even sure if that model still exists in the South. We definitely don’t use it in Nunavut.
I’d like to see the statistics on how many people are accepted into apprenticeship programs, how many are able to get employment, and finally how many are able to make it through to completion, etc. it would be helpful to see a break down by community as well.
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The apprenticeship route is a hard one to take in Nunavut, the opportunities to work under a Red Seal to me seem very, very few. I can only imagine this gets even tougher once you get away from the larger communities.
You can’t become an apprentice unless you have an employer. There used to be pre-apprenticeship programs offered by the College that would allow students to start their training without an employer. But many students in these programs, particularly from smaller communities, finding employers to register them as apprentices. This is in part due to the lack of journeypersons in smaller communities.
An apprentice can work under any journeyperson in their trade. The journeyperson does not have to have a Red Seal certification.
yea? Not sure what that has to do with my comment?
You were asking about how many people accepted into apprenticeship programs got employment. My point is that, by definition, you can’t be an apprentice unless you are employed.
My additional comments were to point out that there were/are problems with students in pre-apprenticeship programs finding employment so that they can become apprentices. So asking about their employment is a more meaningful question.
I was also pointing our that your comment about Red Seal journeypersons suggested that apprentices have to supervised by Red Seal journeypersons–that is not the case.
I am all for apprentices and having someone train to obtain their red seal.
but when you are paying for an apprentice by a company for him to stand over and watch the journeyman that gets tough.
there was plumbing company which would send a journeyman and an apprentice to a jobsite and have work done. the apprentice carried the tools, grunt work, didn’t even assist or complete any work, yet when the invoice came, journeyman $150 an hour and apprentice $90 an hour X 2 hours.
ugh.
I can tell you for certain that in Nunavut the apprentice was not getting $90 per hour. More like $25 to $35 per hour would be typical, depending on the trade.
Northern Inuit – I was wondering why we do get a bill like that too. Don’t these companies get this money from the Government to have the apprentices there? Don’t know if these companies are double dipping.
Companies that employ apprentices are eligible for wage subsidies from the GN for the the first three years for 4-year trades and first two years for 3-year trades. It’s not a huge amount but it’s like $10 to $15 per hour.
homeowner, exactly!
I’ve seen an invoice like this as well and I was not impressed. yes, the work was done, and yes I am glad the apprentice is learning.
but where should the line be drawn? I’m sure the Company was not paying the apprentice $90 per hour. let alone paying your Journeyman $150 an hour.
yes, I know, overhead, parts, building, taxes, and all that.
but why are you charging your Customer $90 an hour (exact amount i cannot recall) as well.
Any time I have an apprentice they are an integral part of my day, or they won’t be working with me for long. Apprenticeships are about ‘experiential’ or on the job learning and a formal setting in college or trade school. I personally challenge apprentices. That means they do more and more as they progress, and I guide their learning. If they are only lugging the tools then they are being short changed. If someone’s chargeout rate for an apprentice is high, its gouging the customer.
Employers who has apprentice do get funding from Department of Education for the 4 years, so the max they pay from their own budget is little over the minimum Nunavut’s hourly rate.
It’s the same for internships for Management within the GN, they are budgeted from the HR department for the training,
But no one really wants to apply for those as they think it’s a hassle to do the paper work or wants to keep practicing nepotism within the workplace .