Nova Scotia giving journeypersons cash incentive for mentoring apprentices

As Nova Scotia grapples with a shortage of skilled tradespeople, the provincial government has announced a program aimed at increasing the number of journeypersons by giving them a cash incentive to train apprentices.

The new program, which started Wednesday, provides up to $2,500 to journeypersons for each completed level of an apprentice’s training.

“This incentive is another piece of the puzzle that we’re trying to solve,” Labour Skills and Immigration Minister Jill Balser said in a phone interview Thursday.

“We know the vital role that journeypersons play in an apprentice’s journey. They are the mentor. They are the person that often is on the job site training apprentices, and their vital role needs to be recognized.”

Employers will be contacted by the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency every August and asked to nominate up to five journeypersons for every apprentice who progressed to the next level of their apprenticeship over the previous 12 months.

For each level an apprentice progresses, $2,500 will be distributed equally among the eligible journeypersons.

In order to qualify, journeypersons must complete a free, 90-minute, self-directed virtual training module titled Introduction to Mentorship.

Balser said during discussions with stakeholders, it was noted that one of the reasons journeypersons are reluctant to take on apprentices is because they don’t feel they’re equipped to be a mentor.

“It’s providing that incentive to support them to say, if you don’t see yourself as a mentor, this training might help get you there,” said Balser.

The Labour Department said the new incentive program will help bolster the number of journeypersons, increase the number of registered apprentices and grow retention rates for apprentices who progress and becoming journeypersons.

Only 43 per cent of people who start an apprenticeship complete the various levels of training and achieve certification. 

In order to meet the current labour demands, the province is aiming to add 5,000 more apprentices to the system and certify 1,000 journeypersons per year over the next three years, the department said.

Alex Bakolias, a red seal plumber, welcomed news of the program.

Bakolias, who owns J. Alexander Plumbing and Heating and employs one apprentice, said he feels the initiative will help give journeypersons another reason to stay in the province rather than heading elsewhere in the country for work.

“You see a lot of guys go to Alberta and Saskatchewan to chase the money, and if the money’s here, then those guys or girls don’t have to do that,” said Bakolias, who works primarily around the Halifax Regional Municipality.

He also believes the mandatory training will be “useful.”

“Any free knowledge is great. The better trained you are to teach the next generation of tradespeople coming through, it’s just benefiting everyone down the line, for the whole province really,” he said.

“You get better work. You get better morale on site.”

Incentive part of larger strategy

Hisham Alhassan, director of Alhassan Construction Inc. in Bedford, N.S., said while he is receptive to the program, he feels the province needs to focus more on getting apprentices into training programs in the first place.

“I can’t find any apprentices,” said Alhassan, whose company does framing, insulation, drywall and painting. “Nobody is really selling blue-collar trades as a future.”

The new incentive program is part of a $100-million, three-year strategy the province announced in October to help speed up the recruitment and training of skilled tradespeople.

Training ratios on work sites have been changed for most skilled trades, allowing three apprentices per journeyperson instead of two apprentices.

The province is waiving the requirement that immigrants who worked in the trades in their home countries have a Nova Scotia equivalent high school diploma before they can start as apprentices.

The investment includes $40 million in various grants and incentives for students, apprentices, employers and journeypersons to help with such things as buying new tools. 

It will also offer incentives to attract people to the trades, including a temporary tuition waiver at the Nova Scotia Community College for high-demand workers, such as carpenters and plumbers. 

Last year, the province certified 615 tradespeople, a shortfall of about 38 per cent of what was needed.

That number has improved this year, according to figures provided by the Labour Department. The province has certified 821 tradespeople so far, a shortfall of 18 per cent.

The province said since 2014, the number of apprentices has increased by 51 per cent.