Executive Council
Advanced Education and Skills
November 14, 2012

Journeyperson Mentorship Program Helping to Meet Skilled Trades Demand

With an investment of $2 million, the Provincial Government is inviting companies and individuals to apply for the Journeyperson Mentorship Program, an industry-supported initiative that will increase the retention rates, skills and technical knowledge of apprentices. The Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, were joined by industry leaders today at the Office to Advance Women Apprentices in Paradise to launch the program.

“From Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity to Hebron oil, from Western Labrador iron ore to residential construction, Newfoundland and Labrador will need thousands of skilled workers in the coming years,” said Premier Dunderdale. “The Journeyperson Mentorship Program is an excellent example of how the Provincial Government, in collaboration with industry employers and labour, is embracing innovative solutions and making strategic investments that are maximizing our potential and building prosperity for generations.”

The Journeyperson Mentorship Program is the latest Provincial Government initiative designed to meet the growing demand for skilled labour. With dedicated on-the-job training, the program will provide a journeyperson mentor to eligible employers to support them in the hiring of additional apprentices as they develop towards journeyperson status. Preference will be given to:

• Under-represented groups who have traditionally faced barriers to employment such as women, Aboriginal persons and persons with disabilities;
• Regional distribution, with an emphasis on rural Newfoundland and Labrador; and,
• High-demand trades.

“By placing experienced tradespersons in an environment that optimizes hands-on training for apprentices, the Journeyperson Mentorship Program will help build careers and create opportunities for skilled trades workers – particularly those in under-represented groups such as women,” said Minister Burke. “This investment will mean more journeypersons will be able to pass their valuable skills and experience on to more apprentices, allowing us to more quickly provide the innovative workforce employers are demanding.”

The Journeyperson Mentorship Program was developed through consultation during Regional Apprenticeship Forums held last spring throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The information gathered at the forums is enhancing policy and program development as the Department of Advanced Education and Skills works with industry stakeholders to meet the challenges of a growing demand for skilled labour.

“As a government, we require operators of all major resource-based projects to develop women’s employment plans so that women may avail of opportunities to work in industries where they have been historically under-represented,” said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. “In order to fill these positions, however, women need to have the training, skills and experience required to do the work. The Journeyperson Mentorship Program will help more women achieve journeyperson status thereby significantly impacting a woman’s ability to participate in our growing economy in these high-paying positions.”

Private employers, either in the profit and non-profit sectors, particularly small and medium-sized employers providing trades-related work, are eligible to apply for the program. A journeyperson mentor will be a senior tradesperson capable of providing valuable guidance in a non-traditional training role.

"This program offers a great incentive for employers and businesses to support employment opportunities and grow our provincial economy,” said Ivan Gedge, Business Representative/Organizer, Atlantic Canada Regional Council of Carpenters, Millwrights and Allied Workers. “I encourage businesses to learn more about the Journeyperson Mentorship Program and how it will build a qualified workforce by strengthening the apprenticeship system and helping more people reach journeyperson status.”

"Through the Journeyperson Mentorship Program, the Provincial Government is making a long-term investment in the future supply of skilled workers,” said Rhonda Neary, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Association. “The association is very pleased with the direction we are seeing in the areas of apprenticeship and skills development.”

For program guidelines and applications:

• Visit www.aes.gov.nl.ca/app/;
• Contact the Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division at 709-729-2729; or,
• Email app@gov.nl.ca.

Since the release of the Skills Task Force report in 2007, the Provincial Government has invested over $98 million in apprenticeship, science and technology, programming, training and infrastructure. Since 2009, the number of women enrolled in skilled trades has grown by 33 per cent. This year, over $4 million in funding is supporting the Journeyperson Mentorship Program and other initiatives to advance apprenticeship opportunities in skilled trades in Newfoundland and Labrador:

• Expansion of the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy Program that helps provide work experience to apprentices, with a focus on first and second-year apprentices including those from under-represented groups such as women and persons with disabilities; and,
• Registration of pre-apprentices in an apprentice tracking system to assist students completing entry-level skilled trades programs to secure employment and progress to journeyperson status.

Other initiatives to meet labour demands include:

• Ensuring education in the skilled trades is more accessible and affordable through an ongoing tuition freeze at Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic;
• Increasing the ratio of apprentices to journeypersons to two-to-one (three-to-one if at least one of the apprentices is in the final year of their apprenticeship);
• Partnering with Operating Engineers College to operate a Tower Crane Operating program to train 30 students to address an identified need to ensure there are enough operators for the Hebron Project; and,
• Expanding the Youth Apprenticeship Program, which provides high school students the opportunity to gain skilled trades work experience, from five schools to 10.

“Our government is committed to working with our partners in business, labour, and training as we build Newfoundland and Labrador’s prosperity and compete in the global economy,” said the Honourable Paul Davis, Minister of Transportation and Works and MHA for Topsail. “I strongly encourage all interested organizations and individuals to consider applying for the Journeyperson Mentorship Program.”

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• Photo 1: Premier Kathy Dunderdale announces an investment of $2 million for the Journeyperson Mentorship Program, an industry-supported initiative that will increase the retention rates, skills and technical knowledge of apprentices – November 14, 2012
• Photo 2: Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Joan Burke are joined by apprentices following the launch of the Journeyperson Mentorship Program at the Office to Advance Women Apprentices in Paradise – November 14, 2012
• View video of the conference

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2012 11 14               1:35 p.m.