Saskatchewan’s booming economy has led to a steep increase in the number of apprentice workers seeking certification in all trades.
Rick Ewen, director of apprenticeship at the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission, said the increase is “absolute unprecedented growth.”
The total number of apprentices is near 8,500, he added, up from 5,100 three years ago.
“Our technical institutions are completely full of apprentices.”
Welding is a fast-growing trade that continues to be a popular career choice.
Dennis Johnson, dean of industrial training at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, said welding is probably one of the school’s largest and busiest programs, growing by 44 percent in the last five years. Enrolment in on-campus apprenticeship training has doubled.
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SIAST offers welding in all four campuses: Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. It also offers mobile training labs.
Ewen said people who want to become welders can take a pre-employment style course at a regional college or technical institute and then become apprentices. However, he added, most people approach an employer about apprenticing, sign a contract with the employer and register with the apprentice program.
“We arrange for in-school technical training.”
It takes about three years to achieve certification. In that time, students attend school for two months a year to learn the more technical aspects of the trade.
Ewen said the waiting lists so often mentioned are usually for the pre-employment courses, and even they have “pretty much evaporated” with the economic boom.
“People don’t have to make themselves more attractive to employers.”
He said the surge in demand for welders is the result of increased activity in mining, energy, construction and maintenance sectors. The technical requirements in those industries have become much more stringent, he added, and many welders will be required to pass tests to meet Canadian and international standards.
Johnson said SIAST has been fortunate to keep its instructors. In a hot economy the school competes for instructors with other industries that could employ them.
SIAST has also increased the number of spots in its on-campus certificate program to 135.
The average age of applicants for the on-campus welding program this year was 22. The average age of an apprentice is 25.
Johnson also said 41 percent of the welding applicants in 2008 came from rural Saskatchewan. Fifty-four percent were from Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. Four percent came from northern Saskatchewan and one percent was from outside the province.
The provincial government recently added $3.5 million to the apprenticeship commission’s budget to train an additional 900 people. The commission will use the money to buy technical training seats.
