Section 5
Labour force and earnings

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The NAS labour force and employment information on apprenticeship program completers and discontinuers. Apprenticeship program long-term continuers are not included in this section because labour force and earning information was not collected for this group, with the exception for the all employment income for the past 12 months which is presented in Appendix 1 Table A.1.1.6 in section 1 of this report.

Completers had better labour market outcomes than discontinuers in terms of both their employment status and their hourly wages.

The NAS found that across Canada, apprentice's who completed their programs were more likely to be employed than those who discontinued. As shown in Chart 5.1 (see Appendix 1 Table A.1.5.1.1), in Quebec, 72% of completers were employed compared to 70% of discontinuers. A slightly higher percentage of completers were also unemployed (22% versus 19% of discontinuers). On the other hand, however, 11% of discontinuers but only 7% of completers were not in the labour force.

Appendix 1 Table A.1.5.2 shows that 76% of completers but only 72%% of discontinuers had permanent employment. A slightly higher percentage of completers than discontinuers were employed in temporary jobs (8% versus 6%). Conversely 3% of completers had seasonal employment compared 4% of discontinuers. Discontinuers were more likely to be self-employed (18% compared to 13% of completers).

Hourly wages

The NAS found that, in general, the average hourly earnings of completers were better than those for discontinuers. Chart 5.2 (see Appendix 1 Table A.1.5.2) shows that in Quebec completers had a clear advantage over discontinuers. Slightly more than twice as many completers as discontinuers earned $25 an hour or more (80% versus 37%). While 20% of discontinuers earned $15 an hour or less, only 3% of completers earned these low rates. The highest proportion of completers (46%) earned between $25 and $30 an hour, while the highest proportion of discontinuers (22%) earned between $15 and $20 an hour.

The median hourly earnings of completers and discontinuers also show a difference in how these groups fare. For completers, the median (where half of the completers are above this value and half are under), was $29.48 an hour, while for discontinuers it was $20.00 an hour.