The New Brunswick government has introduced new compulsory designations for four skilled trades under the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Act.
"What will happen is that there is a grandfather clause. So, if you have been working in it and have been working in it for a while, you will be grandfathered," said Gary Ritchie, president of the New Brunswick Building and Construction Trades Council.
"Anybody who is eligible that wanted to challenge the exams, that can prove time in the trade, would be able to challenge the exam. And from then on, the only people we would get in would go through an apprenticeship course to get there designation."
As of Aug. 18, compulsory designation or mandatory training and certification is now required in the four designations of steamfitter-pipefitter; construction boilermaker; mobile crane operator; and sheet metal worker occupations.
The department will provide training to upgrade those who qualify to challenge the certification examination.
"Our big thing in the province of New Brunswick is that pipefitter is a certified trade. So, you have to work with a pipefitter, with a certificate in the trade in order to get your apprenticeship hours," said Ritchie.
"But, this has never been mandatory. So, what happens in that you have a lot of people that are working at the trade that would have actively worked at pipefitting, but they were not apprenticed or were not journeymen. The employer had no interest in getting them qualified, because it was cheap labour."
According to Ritchie, the combination of an aging demographic and people working in the industry with certification has led to a decline the number of qualified skilled trades people in the province. He predicts the implementation of compulsory designations will cause the number of skilled trades people to increase.
A Certificate of Qualification without Written Examination will be available to tradespeople who have accumulated the required hours prior to the date of compulsory designation.
These tradespersons will have a five-year timeframe to obtain certification without writing an exam through the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification branch.
"What we will be asking the government to do is to look at a way of policing this," said Ritchie.
"When you do have compulsory trades, a lot of employers try to get around it by hiring somebody and getting them to do pipefitting. There is no reason for them to have compulsory if there is no policing agency."
There are eight compulsory trades that can now be obtained through a combination of accumulating work hours and completing competency test. These trades are bricklayer, construction boiler maker, construction electrician, mobile crane operator, plumber, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic, sheet metal worker, sprinkler system installer and steamfitter-pipefitter."
It is not clear who is going to enforce the implementation of compulsory trade. The policing could be undertaken by the Ministry of Public Safety or the Ministry of Secondary Education and Labour.
In addition, the Atlantic provinces signed a unique agreement on May 26. to establish common training, certifications and standards that will help apprentices complete training and work within the region more easily.
This agreement is the first of its kind in the country.
There are 13 apprenticeship systems across Canada, each with different requirements.
Inconsistencies such as different curriculum, log books or sequencing of courses can make it difficult for apprentices to complete training if they move, and for employers to recruit the people they need.
The project will focus on 10 trades.
The first four will be bricklayer, cook, construction electrician, and instrumentation and control technician. By early next year, it is expected apprentices in those trades will benefit from improvements. By 2017, all 10 trades will be harmonized.
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