Federal government to fund paid placements and top-ups for skilled trades apprentices

OTTAWA — The federal government is spending $880 million on new measures to help apprentices in skilled trades finish their training, including a weekly top-up for in-class learning and a completion bonus.

Starting in the spring of 2027, apprentices will receive a top-up of $400 a week for in-class learning.

The government is also bringing back a $5,000 apprenticeship completion bonus for Red Seal trades that was scrapped at the beginning of 2025.

READ MORE: Canada's pension funds urged to invest more in early-stage tech companies

READ MORE: Federal government designates Alberta-to-West Coast pipeline a project of national interest

It will also give small and medium employers up to $10,000 for every first-year apprentice in a Red Seal trade they hire.

Sean Strickland, executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions, said the federal EI top-up is a “significant lift to help apprentices complete the in-school portion of their training.”

The government estimates Canada will need 1.4 million new trades workers by 2033 to replace retiring workers and meet project demand.

Statistics suggest a growing number of Canadians are choosing trades.

Apprenticeship enrolments hit a record high of more than 101,500 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, but completions of these programs have remained below prepandemic levels.

Almost 47,000 apprentices received certification that year, or a rate of 19.9 per cent.

The percentage of apprentices who had not yet become certified at the expected completion of their program in 2024 remained raised at 49.2 per cent.

Experts say financial challenges can be a barrier for apprentices trying to complete their programs.

Justin Santos, a traffic signal electrician who lives in Kelowna, B.C., got his Red Seal electrician designation this spring.

But completing the four-year program stretched him financially.

“I was taking care of my grandmother and myself, I didn’t have a lot to fall back on,” he said.

“A lot of apprentices that I’ve met are 30 and above and are wanting to get into the trades but they’re struggling with it. They can’t afford to go into school for a two-month period.”

Anna Lary, master electrician and the project lead of British Columbia Institute of Technology’s ConnectHer Hub, pointed out that many apprentices are facing a combination of lower entry-level wages and a high cost of living.

First-year apprentices start at roughly 50 per cent of a certified journeyperson’s rate, and the wages progressively increase.

In 2022, newly certified journeypersons made a median income of just more than $56,500 one year after the completion of their apprenticeship, according to Statistics Canada.

Emily Arrowsmith, director of research and programs at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, noted this varies significantly by trade.

The average age of apprentices registering for a Red Seal trade was 25 in 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

In Ontario, the average age of a level-one apprentice is 29, said Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario.

It can make in-class learning on EI difficult to afford, said Strickland.

“A lot of apprentices will stretch that out, they’ll defer, they won’t go until they’re financially stable,” he said.

Santos said the apprenticeship completion bonus, which will be available retroactively to newly certified journeypersons who completed their apprenticeship as of April, 2025, is also a meaningful financial incentive.

He said it will cover the roughly $4,000 he spent to purchase the tools he’ll need.

New apprentices can also struggle to find their first employer.

That can be a significant expense for employers, particularly smaller ones, said Strickland.

“It’s hard to get a first-year and sometimes a second-year onto a job site, because the contractor really has to take a lot of time, effort and care to make sure that they’re producing in a way that helps the contractor meet the deliverables for the project,” he said.

The $10,000 incentive should help to address some of those hurdles, he added.

Arrowsmith said the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum surveys apprentices regularly about barriers to completion.

Respondents often say their employer won’t release them to attend school because they’re too busy, or the employer is providing insufficient training and they’re unable to advance.

“If you take on an apprentice you’re obligated to do certain things, but some employers are like, ‘I don’t like the curriculum, I just want to teach them how to frame.’”

Financial constraints are far from the only roadblock to higher completion rates.

With files from The Globe and Mail