Mobility of apprenticeship completers in Canada from 2002 to 2007

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Nicole Paquin
Centre for Education Statistics

Extent of migration to Alberta between 2002 and 2007
Profile of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta between 2002 and 2007
Nearly one-third of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta had studied a trade in the metal product fabrication group
Working conditions
A larger proportion of migrant completers earned high hourly wages
Conclusion

According to the Census, nearly 12% of the Canadian labour force had a trade certification (an apprenticeship or other trades certificate or diploma) in 2006. More than 1 million Canadians worked in skilled trades in 2007.

The period beginning in the late 1990s through to 2007 was characterized by strong economic growth, raising concerns about possible labour shortages in the trades, with the extent of potential shortages varying across the provinces.1 As a result, governments introduced incentives to increase the supply of tradespersons. For example, in the 2009 federal budget, $40 million a year was allocated to establish the Apprenticeship Completion Grant. Anyone who completes an apprenticeship in a Red Seal trade will be eligible for a taxable grant of $2,000. The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program facilitates interprovincial mobility by standardizing required skills and certifications.

Geographic mobility of apprentices can be seen as a labour-market adjustment mechanism, as apprentices in economically-disadvantaged regions can find jobs or better working conditions in regions with stronger economies. They can also migrate to complete their apprenticeships and acquire experience. Interprovincial migration often provides an opportunity to access other labour markets and get a better job with better pay.2

According to Canadian education indicators, in 2004, 20% of all registered apprentices were working in Alberta, which had only 10% of Canada's total population.3 Western Canada's strong economy and, in particular, the booming mining, oil and gas extraction industry in Alberta attracted a large proportion of the apprentices who moved to another province for work between 2002 and 2007.

This article compares the profiles of people who completed their apprenticeships between 2002 and 2004 ('completers') and who moved to Alberta by 2007 ('migrants') with those who stayed in their province in which they completed their apprenticeship ('non-migrants'). Specifically, the article compares a number of variables describing the working conditions of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta for work and non-migrant completers who were working in the province (other than Alberta) where they received their training. This comparison should help determine whether migrant apprenticeship completers benefited with better pay and working conditions.

Box 1
National Apprenticeship Survey

The 2007 National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) was a collaborative effort on the part of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), apprenticeship authorities in each of the provinces and territories and Statistics Canada. The work was carried out under the guidance of the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA).

Through the National Apprenticeship Survey Research Advisory Panel (NASRAP), researchers from Provincial/Territorial apprenticeship branches, HRSDC and Statistics Canada are continuing their collaboration by producing a series of nine policy-relevant analytical studies including an in-depth study on mobility. This article, which highlights the key findings on the mobility of apprentices from the NAS, is the first of a series of articles to be published in Education Matters which will highlight key findings of research based on the NAS.

Box 2:
Data sources, definitions and concepts

The National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007 is the main source of data for this study. NAS gathers information on various dimensions of apprentices' work and training experiences before, during and after their apprenticeship program.

NAS 2007 is a source of standard data for the provinces and territories. The survey's sample frame consists of all registered apprentices on the lists of apprentices provided by the provincial and territorial jurisdictions (except for Nunavut) for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 reference years.

There is a major difference in the survey's scope between Quebec and the other provinces. For Quebec, only some of the apprenticeship trades are represented in the sample frame, including, for example, only about half of the construction trades. Nevertheless, those trades have a substantial number of apprentices. Since the skilled trades studied and practiced vary from province to province, the decision was made not to exclude Quebec from the study.

Target population

For the purposes of NAS 2007, a person was considered part of the target population if he or she was registered in an apprenticeship program in 2002, 2003 or 2004. This article measures the mobility factors for apprentices who completed their apprenticeships at some point in the 2002, 2003 or 2004 reference years and were not enrolled in any apprenticeship activities on December 31, 2004.

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a training method used in some construction trades, such as plumbing and electricity, and some non-construction trades, such as auto mechanics and hairstyling. It generally consists of on-the-job training interspersed with periods of classroom training. Most apprenticeships are three- or four-year programs.

Mobility

For the purposes of this article, mobility is the interprovincial movements (migration) of apprentices between their province of apprenticeship completion and the province in which they were employed in the week preceding the interview in 2007.

Extent of migration to Alberta between 2002 and 2007

The National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007 shows that nearly half (45%) of the apprenticeship completers who moved to another province in the 2002 to 2007 reference period went to Alberta (Chart 1).

Chart 1
Destination of apprenticeship completers not working in their province of completion , 2002 to 2007

Chart 1: Destination of apprenticeship completers not working in their province of completion , 2002 to 2007

Note: The "To Quebec" data should be used with caution because of the small number of observations.
Source: Statistics Canada, National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

Profile of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta between 2002 and 2007

Nearly one migrant completer in three (32%) was from the Atlantic provinces (Chart 2). In fact, over the past 10 years, Alberta has been the main destination for migrants from the Atlantic region (all workers combined); before that, Ontario attracted half of the migrants from the Atlantic region.4 Also over the last 10 years, migration from the Atlantic provinces to Alberta has increased steadily; migrant apprenticeship completers seem to be following this pattern.

Chart 2
Region of origin of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta, 2007

Chart 2: Region of origin of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta, 2007

Note: The "Quebec" data should be used with caution because of the small number of observations.
Source: Statistics Canada, National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

The next largest proportions of completers who migrated to Alberta were from the neighbouring provinces of Saskatchewan (26%) and British Columbia (15%), followed by Ontario and Manitoba, at 12% and 10%, respectively.

Women are poorly represented in a number of apprenticeship trades, particularly the construction trades. The proportion of women was lower among completers who migrated to Alberta (7%) than among completers who remained in their province of enrolment (11%). This may be because demand was higher for trades in which women are underrepresented, such as the metal product fabrication trades and the motor vehicle and heavy equipment trades. In contrast, the trades group in which the proportion of women is higher—food and service—is one of the groups with the smallest proportions of completers migrating to Alberta (8%).

Younger apprenticeship completers were more likely to be mobile. Nearly one-third of the non-migrant completers was under age 29, whereas a significantly larger proportion (44%) of completers who migrated to Alberta was in the same age group. Similarly, 44% of completers who migrated to Alberta were aged 29 to 39, while a slightly higher proportion (49%) of non-migrants was in that age group.

The proportion of never-married persons was higher for completers (50%) who moved to Alberta than for those who did not move (41%). Also, more non-migrants (55%) than migrants (46%) were either married or in a common-law relationship.

Nearly one-third of apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta had studied a trade in the metal product fabrication group

Of the migrant apprenticeship completers, 30% had studied a metal product fabrication trade (Chart 3). Those completing motor vehicle and heavy equipment trades were close behind at 26%. These two trade groups had significantly higher proportions of migrants than other trade groups.

However, more than half (52%) of the completers who moved to Alberta were not working in their field of study. This was the case for 40% of non-migrant completers. Among completers (migrant and non-migrant combined) more than two in five (42%) were working in the construction industry; yet the proportion who studied building construction was only 12% for migrant completers and 17% for non-migrants.5

The manufacturing industry and the 'other services' industry (except public administration) followed with 16% of migrant completers each, while 6% were in the retail trade industry; the proportions of non-migrant apprenticeship completers in these industries were similar.

The mining and oil and gas extraction industry employed 5% of the completers who migrated to Alberta and 2% of non-migrant completers.

Chart 3
Trades studied by apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta, 2007

Chart 3: Trades studied by apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta, 2007

Source: Statistics Canada, National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

Working conditions

When there is a shortage of trades workers, it might be expected that apprenticeship completers would have no trouble finding a job - that is in fact the case, as 99% of completers who migrated to Alberta and 96% of non-migrants were employed. Though not large, the difference is statistically significant (Table 1).

The proportion of completers with a permanent job was almost the same in the migrant group and the non-migrant group (77% and 79%, respectively). The proportions of self-employed workers were also similar (10% and 11%, respectively), while the proportion of migrants with a temporary job (9%) was almost double that of non-migrants.

Compared to non-migrants, a higher proportion of completers who moved to Alberta had employment benefits. The differences in favour of those who moved to Alberta were significant in extended health care (78% versus 69%), dental coverage (78% versus 68%) and other benefits (30% versus 24%). The proportion of completers with a pension plan was almost identical for migrants and non-migrants (58% and 57%, respectively).

One noteworthy difference in benefits is the significantly lower proportion of migrant than non-migrant completers who had paid vacation leave (68% versus 73%). Employers in Alberta who are coping with labour shortages may be more inclined to avoid giving their employees paid vacation leave and to replace it with other types of benefits.

Table 1
Selected working condition variables for migrant and non-migrant apprenticeship completers, 2007
  Migrants Non-migrants1
Percentage
Labour force
Employed 99* 96
Type of employment
Permanent employee 77 79
Temporary employee 9* 5
Seasonal employee 4*,E 2
Self-employed worker 10 11
Work schedule
Full time 99* 97
Employed in field of study
Yes 47* 59
No 52* 40
Benefits
Extended health care 78* 69
Dental plan 78* 68
Pension plan 58 57
Paid vacation 68* 73
Other benefits 30* 24

1. Excluding completers who enrolled in Alberta and still work there.
* Significant difference from non-migrant completers at the 5% level or less.
E use with caution

Source: Statistics Canada. National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

A larger proportion of migrant completers earned high hourly wages

Differences in hourly wages are pronounced when completers who moved to Alberta are compared to non-migrants -- three times as many migrant completers as non-migrants (35% versus 11%) were earning $35.00 or more an hour; nearly one quarter of the migrants had hourly wages between $30.00 and $34.99, compared to 17% of the non-migrants; and close to twice as many non-migrants as migrants (25% compared to 13%) were earning less than $20.00 an hour (Table 2).

Table 2
Average hourly wage of apprenticeship completers migration status, 2007
  Migrants Non-migrants 1
Percentage
Less than $20.00 13* 25
$20.00 and $24.99 11* 19
$25.00 and $29.99 16* 27
$30.00 and $34.99 24* 17
$35.00 and over 35* 11

1. Excluding apprenticeship completers who enrolled in Alberta and still work there.
* Significant difference from non-migrant apprenticeship completers at the 5% level or less.
Source : Statistics Canada. National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

There were also substantial differences in satisfaction with income. Slightly more than one third of migrants to Alberta (36%) reported being very satisfied with their income, compared to slightly less than one quarter (23%) of non-migrants (Chart 4). Conversely, twice as many non-migrants as migrant s (10% versus 5%) said they were dissatisfied with their income.

Chart 4
Apprenticeship completers' satisfaction with their income, by migration status, 2007

Chart 4: Apprenticeship completers' satisfaction with their income, by migration status, 2007

Note: The "Very dissatisfied" data for migrant apprenticeship completers should be used with caution.
Source: Statistics Canada, National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007.

Although pay is an important factor, it is not the only indicator of how good a job is. Job security also plays an important part in job satisfaction. As was the case for satisfaction with income, more migrant completers were satisfied with their job security than non-migrants (44% versus 36%).

Conclusion

This comparative profile shows that apprenticeship completers who migrated to Alberta appear to have gained appreciably by doing so, especially in terms of hourly earnings.

This study covered the period from 2002 to 2007, a period during which Alberta's economy was booming. However, the province has been affected by the current economic downturn. Since October 2008, employment in Alberta has fallen by 48,000 (-2.4%), mostly in the goods-producing sector.6 Nevertheless, unemployment rates in Alberta (5.4%), Saskatchewan (4.7%) and Manitoba (4.8%) continue to be well below the national average of 8% in March 2009; the unemployment rate was highest in Labrador and Newfoundland, at 15.1%. It would be interesting to determine whether the job losses in Alberta have had a significant impact on the skilled trades and how this may have affected those who moved to Alberta to work between 2002 and 2007.

Notes

  1. Skof Karl, 2006. "Trends in Registered Apprenticeship Training in Canada", Education Matters. June 2006. Volume 3, number 2. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-004-XIE.

  2. Bernard A., Finnie R, et St-Jean B. 2008. "Interprovincial mobility and earnings", Perspectives on Labour and Income. October 2008. Volume 9, Number 10. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 75-001-XWE.

  3. Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and Statistics Canada. 2007. Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program, 2007. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-582-XPE, pp. 81-82.

  4. Dion P, et Coulombe S, 2005 and 2006 "Portrait of the mobility of Canadians in 2006: Trajectories and characteristics of migrants". Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 91-209-X.

  5. A recent study on employment trends and salaries from 2002 to 2007 shows that the manufacturing sector had three consecutive years of job losses, even though there wasn't a recession. This may explain why apprentices that studied metal product fabrication had difficulty finding employment and, for example, moved to Alberta to work in the construction industry. See Lin, Jane. 2008. «Trends in employment and wages, 2002 to 2007». Perspectives on Labour and Income. September 2008. Volume 9, Number 9. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 75-001-XWE.

  6. Statistics Canada. Labour Force Survey. The Daily, April 9, 2009.