Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 06/02) - There are 20 per cent more apprentices in the territory this year than last due to a Northern labour shortage and a trades apprenticing program.

Mark Walton is a fourth-year plumbing apprentice. He is a born-and-raised Yellowknifer who works for Central Mechanical. Once a year Walton goes to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton for two months. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

"Diavik and BHP are really looking for people who have certification," said Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Program development co-ordinator Mark Plouffe.

An apprentice is someone who is learning on the job and getting paid for it. About 20 per cent of an apprentice's training, or two months a year, is done in the classroom, and the other 80 per cent is on the job. Basically, the apprentice is getting paid for training.

"At the end of their training they have a job, they are journeyman certified and they don't have a student loan to pay off," said Plouffe.

But those aren't the only reasons why a job-hunter might choose apprenticeship. University and college is becoming harder to gain admission to and it means two to four years with little income. "Everybody would like their kids to go to school but not all kids go to school or university. We would like them to be aware of these options," said Plouffe.

In order to train an apprentice, an employer has to be journeyman certified. Once an employee receives journeyman certification, they can train an apprentice.

"Employers are keen to hire apprentices because they have so much work," said Plouffe.

There are more than 300 apprentices at work in the Northwest Territories -- that's up from 250 last year. Some of the 40 different occupations that can be apprenticed include electrician, plumber, cook, crane operator and carpenter. There have been more than 4,400 apprentices trained in the Northwest Territories.

"There is an apprenticeship program in every province and they each run their own show," said Plouffe.

Another apprenticeship entity is the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship who tie all the provincial and territorial programs together, according to Plouffe.

"For instance, I am a journeyman cook but I also have a red seal journeyman cook certificate. That means that I am qualified to apprentice my trade in every province in Canada," said Plouffe. The red seal allows the journeyman's competencies to be recognized in every part of the country.

After an employer decides to take on an employee as an apprentice, a contract is signed between the apprentice, the employer and the apprentice certification department.

"The employer is agreeing to provide a training system for that person," said Plouffe.

The employer has to give the employee time off to go to school and provide proper on-the-job training, he said.