Encouraging Skilled Trades and Apprenticeships

CALGARY, ALBERTA — Coming out of high school, Ward Webber wasn’t sure what type of career he wanted to pursue. He knew that he had really enjoyed shop class, so he decided to go into woodworking, and eventually ended up training to become a cabinet maker. “Once I started, I just knew that I loved it,” he says.

In the winter of 2009, he completed his training as a certified cabinet maker at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and became eligible to receive the Apprenticeship Completion Grant (ACG). Introduced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the ACG is a $2,000 taxable cash grant designed to encourage apprentices registered in a designated Red Seal trade to complete their apprenticeship program and receive journeyperson certification.

Ward will be putting the money he received through the grant toward the new cabinet and custom furniture business he and his sister started this past summer, called Triple Dub Custom. Ward had been doing side-jobs on his own for a couple of years and decided that he had the experience and skills to open his own business. “I wanted the freedom. I thought that, while I was working for myself, I would have more of an opportunity to do the kind of work that I want,” he says.

In the future, in addition to building kitchen cabinets and entertainment centres, Ward hopes to specialize in high-end custom furniture. “I would love to get into the really high-end furniture, the stuff that people come to me and ask me to design. I want it to be on a more personal basis than I’ve ever seen in any other shop,” he says

Ward found out about the ACG through his sister, who is also completing her apprenticeship in cabinet making, and has benefited from the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant. The ACG complements this existing grant, through which registered apprentices are eligible for $1,000 when they complete their first or second year (or level) of apprenticeship training in a designated Red Seal trade, to a maximum of $2,000. By combining the two grants, apprentices can be eligible for up to $4,000 upon certification in a designated Red Seal trade.

Ward was presented with his ACG cheque by the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, at WorldSkills Calgary 2009, an international competition focusing on skilled trades and technology. At the provincial skills competition in 2006, Ward won a gold medal and went on to win a bronze at the Canadian Skills Competition.

As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government made a commitment to encourage skilled trades and apprenticeships by investing up to $40 million per year in the new ACG. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 apprentices who complete their apprenticeship program and become certified in a designated Red Seal trade will be eligible for the ACG each year.

For information on how to apply for the grants, apprentices can visit the Service Canada Web site.