The Manitoba government has announced it will be restoring the 1:1 apprentice-to-journeyperson ratio, ostensibly to promote safety and better training in the province.
A past government set a 1:1 ratio after a well-publicized death of a worker at an unsupervised jobsite occurred in 1999. The previous government relaxed this requirement and re-introduced a 2:1 ratio in 2020. Now, the government is set to change it again.
Economic and Development Minister Jamie Moses said the province is making other regulatory changes to modernize the apprenticeship system to remove administrative burdens and improve the province’s competitiveness with other jurisdictions.
However, studies have shown that strict apprenticeship regulations, including apprenticeship ratios, adversely affect the job market for skilled trades. Apprenticeship ratios refer to the rate at which firms in certain trades may hire apprentices relative to the number of certified workers–or journeypersons. In Canada, provinces regulate these rates, creating many different training and certification systems across the country.
Most jurisdictions in Canada and the United States have ratios in some trades that determine how many journeypersons must be employed for every apprentice. However, since 2000 there has been a relaxation of these ratios, especially in Canada. Provinces have reduced them to 1:1 or even 1:2, or in some cases, 1:3 (if the apprentices are in their final year).
Tapping Into Our Potential: Occupational Freedom and Aboriginal Workers, a study by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, examined restrictive occupational requirements within the skilled trades that were preventing Canadian employers from hiring more workers.
In the case of Indigenous workers, a major barrier was the educational requirements for skilled trades. The study argued governments should introduce a skilled-based assessment for entering the trades, rather than an educational one. Many natural resource projects located close to First Nation communities required skilled labor. Young First Nation men were a growing population perceived as a logical choice to meet demand in these skilled trades.
The study focused on young Indigenous workers, but the insights apply to all workers within Manitoba.
While some critics argue high apprentice ratios protect health and safety, the available evidence does not support that assertion and may even contradict the claim that relaxing apprenticeship ratios negatively impact workplace health and safety.
The study found higher ratios adversely affect employment and the economy as they force journeypersons to lay off apprentices.
All provinces and territories should move toward a 2:1 ratio for most skilled trades (two apprentices for one journeyperson). This would allow companies to hire sufficient workers to meet project demands but still limit new entrants, which ensures work for both journeypersons in the system and apprentices as they become certified.
Employers within Manitoba echo these sentiments. They see these protectionist measures as unhelpful for the province’s needs.
Ron Hambley, president of the Winnipeg Construction Association (WCA), told Global News how he was concerned these measures would not help an existing labour shortage given that many older construction workers are set to retire. He said restrictive ratios will mean layoffs on the horizon.
Manitoba should re-consider this restrictive change and ensure our provincial economy can meet its demand for skilled labour into the future.
Joseph Quesnel is a senior policy fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
