After years of working several unfulfilling desk jobs, B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 Liz Barrett wanted a change.

She looked around and came across the Workplace Alternative Trades Training or 香蕉视频直播淲ATT香蕉视频直播� Program, a program run by the Western Joint Electrical Training Society and designed to get people through the initial barriers of learning a trade.

Getting into the course is competitive, but if you do, those enrolled can complete their initial safety courses for free and then be set up with the electrician union and job placement.

Within weeks, Barrett had found a placement with a Victoria electrician and was loving her position. She was a hard worker, biking to worksites with her tools in one backpack, and her lunch and a change of clothes in another.

The position was part of her electrician apprenticeship 香蕉视频直播� which usually lasts four years and is split between work periods and studying for school.

Then after around a year, Barrett got pregnant with twins, meaning she had to go on maternity leave earlier than she would have wanted. After giving birth, Barrett planned to stay on maternity leave for a year and then return where she left off with her apprenticeship.

But 21 months after her twins were born, and 27 months after she went on maternity leave, Barrett still hasn香蕉视频直播檛 been able to return to work because she can香蕉视频直播檛 find any child care.

She香蕉视频直播檚 been trying for months to find a space, but the race for child-care spots in Greater Victoria is competitive. The opportunities are even tighter because of the nature of trades work, where Barrett would often have to be on-site for 7 a.m., which rules out a lot of daycare centres that open later.

香蕉视频直播淚 haven香蕉视频直播檛 ever talked to like an employer about, 香蕉视频直播楬ey, can I start later?香蕉视频直播� because I don香蕉视频直播檛 want to be that person that gets quote unquote, special treatment, even though it香蕉视频直播檚 not, it香蕉视频直播檚 just the only way you can make something work because of the situation. It香蕉视频直播檚 brutal out there. I phone all the time. And I香蕉视频直播檓 like, 香蕉视频直播業s there any movement? Is there any movement?香蕉视频直播� And nobody really seems to have any.香蕉视频直播�

That slow culture change is another problem that香蕉视频直播檚 plaguing an industry that is 香蕉视频直播渢ortuously inflexible,香蕉视频直播� according to Nick Black, a carpenter and owner of Cavetto Carpentry.

Black香蕉视频直播檚 company is a small, four-man team and has been looking to expand but is struggling to find a 香蕉视频直播渦nicorn,香蕉视频直播� his term for a trained apprentice who香蕉视频直播檚 ready and available to work.

香蕉视频直播淭he trades have notorious negative sides to it, that are kind of stigmatized right now. I think a lot of people have this standard view of the trades, which isn香蕉视频直播檛 great. But I think the trades are also very, very slow to change and it just can香蕉视频直播檛 afford to do that anymore. The whole industry needs to really modernize and update because we香蕉视频直播檙e not just competing with each other for labour, we香蕉视频直播檙e competing with every other industry that has made those changes.香蕉视频直播�

Black says a number of problems plague the trades, including kids being turned off them by parents and schools when they香蕉视频直播檙e young, and companies who take on apprentices but use them for cheap labour instead of proper learning opportunities. Added to that are the child-care issue, pay, as well as a lack of affordable housing crisis, parking at worksites and a lack of benefits.

香蕉视频直播淚 think on one end, our hand and the industry香蕉视频直播檚 hand is being forced because just otherwise people just aren香蕉视频直播檛 going to do it,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淲e have to bend over backward for our people. But also, I think that香蕉视频直播檚 the right way it should be.香蕉视频直播�

Black said he香蕉视频直播檚 been looking for a benefits package for his team, but it香蕉视频直播檚 hard to manage the overhead with such a small team.

On child care, Black suggested small contractor companies should band together and establish a child-care facility for their members, one that would offer cheap spots that work with the typical schedule of a tradesperson. That would be an innovative solution but a complicated one to get running, admitted Black.

In the meantime, the shortage of workers is only set to increase.

A Royal Bank of Canada report released in September 2021 forecasted that 700,000 tradespeople out of the four million working in Canada would retire by 2028. That combined with flawed recruitment means Canada will face a shortage of at least 10,000 workers in every nationally recognized Red Seal 香蕉视频直播� a national trades certification 香蕉视频直播� trade by 2026.

That香蕉视频直播檚 hurting businesses.

A survey conducted by Canadian Manufactures and Exporters of over 500 manufacturers found that over the past year (the report came out in October 2022), 62 per cent of manufacturers had lost or turned down contracts and faced delays due to a lack of workers, leading to $7.2 billion in lost sales and penalties for late delivery. Meanwhile, 43 per cent of companies had postponed or cancelled capital projects because of labour shortages, leading to $5.4 billion in lost investment.

But it also means people like Barrett are being held back or in other cases left out entirely.

香蕉视频直播淚 finished one of my years of schooling when I was around 32 weeks pregnant. So I香蕉视频直播檓 ready to go back to work and build up my hours.香蕉视频直播�

At the beginning of 2022, the federal government announced nearly $1 billion annually in apprenticeship supports through grants, loans, tax credits. But Black says there needs to be a societal shift if the shortage of tradespeople is going to be properly addressed.

香蕉视频直播淭here needs to be that shift in mentality in the public as well, that the trades are needed and something to be respected, not like, 香蕉视频直播極h, you香蕉视频直播檙e, a lower class of person.香蕉视频直播� Well, you hired us to help you and that香蕉视频直播檚 what we香蕉视频直播檙e here to do. You need us, the world needs trades. They need craftsmen that can do this stuff, and do it well.香蕉视频直播�

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