Skills
FACTS

Questions and Answers for Staff:
Apprenticeship Revitalization and
Community Outreach
Number 1: Winter 1993

1. What is “Apprenticeship Revitalization" and
where did it come from?

In late 1991, the government announced its
intention to expand and enhance Ontario’s
apprenticeship training system.

Second is the development of apprenticeships in
new trades and occupations, and the updating
of existing trades. Over three years, $3.9 million
’ will be spent to develop standards and
examinations. The funding will be used to
expand trades updating courses, and offer trainthe-trainer programs for tradespersons.
Third - and the one that will have a particular
impact on day-to-day operations in the field - is
community outreach. Up to $6.7 million will be
used to forge new partnerships in the
community to improve access and increase the
numbers of individuals from designated groups
in apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship Revitalization was one of a
few new initiatives accepted from across
government for the 1992/93 Budget. Cabinet
approved a set of detailed proposals on
September 30 and formally announced them in
the Legislature on October 5.

3. Are there any new staff positions attached
to the three initiatives?

Apprenticeship Revitalization will provide
new services and new products to a range of
new clients. It has seven objectives, which are
listed on the back page.

A Program Standards co-ordinator, a SWAP
co-ordinator and two or three outreach staff
will be assigned to each district

The new clients will be acquired by expanding
apprenticeship as a school-to-work option for
young people, and by increasing the
participation of designated target groups (i.e.
women, racial minorities, persons with
disabilities, francophone and aborginal
persons) in apprenticeship.

The new products will be new trades and new
inter-provincial standards, as well as initiatives
to improve training quality in existing tradesboth on-the-job and in-school. Activities to
reduce drop-outs and improve client service will
make up the new services.
2. What specific initiatives will be funded
under Revitalization, and how much will it
all cost?
$13.6 million was approved for three specific
initiatives over the next three years.

First is the expansion of SWAP - the Secondary
School Workplace Apprenticeship Program. The
cost for this initiative is $3 million over three
years.

New staff are associated with all three of the
new initiatives, and almost all of the positions
will be assigned to district and field offices.

These staff will not be the only people
responsible for Revitalization and community
outreach. They will be co-ordinating and
providing technical support for activities that
will eventually become the responsibility - to a
greater or lesser extent - of all field staff.
4. Why reform apprenticeship now, when OTAB
win have a council devoted to improving
apprenticeship?

There is no better time than now to begin
rebuilding Ontario’s apprenticeship system.
Apprenticeship has a lot to offer in today’s
labour market, but as one ITC put it "it’s a
system that was designed in the 1950s that’s
trying to meet the needs of the market in the
1990s."
Revitalization will strengthen the apprenticeship
program that will be transferred to OTAB. OTAB
will continue to ensure that apprenticeship
training meets current and future needs and will
expand apprenticeship as required.

- 5. There Is no point in recruiting more people
from equity groups or anywhere else - for
apprenticeship in the current economy.
What Is the use of spending more money on
apprenticeship when no one Is hiring
apprentices light now?

The time to prepare for economic recovery and
expansion is now. Apprenticeship is a long-term
training program, and today’s training can
influence tomorrow’s economic growth.

Our Initiatives also include developing new
trades in occupations and industries where
employment is expanding and opportunities
are growing. We recognize that the jobs of
tomorrow will be in new and emerging
occupations.
One of the key components of the community
outreach initiative will be to work with current
and new apprenticeship employers and with
local industry associations to develop new
sources of apprenticeship placements.
6. Employment equity is a key priority with
the government, yet specific money is not
identified for equity programs. Where does
equity fit in to Revitalization?

Equity/access underlies all three of the
initiatives, and specific equity targets will be
set for each initiative. Equity considerations,
like community outreach, will become a
regular part of the way that business is done
in the field.

The overall equity targets for Revitalization are
ambitious, intimately, designated group
participation in apprenticeship will reflect
designated group participation in the labour
force - 46.4% women; 8.6% racial minorities;
8% persons with disabilities; 6% francophones;
and 2% aboriginal persons.
Current participation by designated groups in
apprenticeship is low: under 5% are women;
2.5% are racial minorities; 0.25% are persons
with disabilities; and 0.4% are aboriginal
persons. (Data on francophone participation in
apprenticeship is not available at this time.)

Currently, the apprenticeship system does not
adequately serve large segments of society, yet
these groups will become an increasingly large
portion of the labour market in the future.

7. Does emphasis on designated groups and
young people mean that existing apprentices
will be squeezed out of the system?
No. Increased representation by these groups
will be achieved by expansion of the
apprenticeship system, rather than by
replacement of current clientele.

8. Expanding SWAP and adding new trades is
self-explanatory, but what does “community
outreach” mean?
The goal of the outreach strategy is to provide
more and better training to client groups that
reflect the diversity of Ontario’s labour
market That means that young people and
members of designated groups will have to be
registered as apprentices and retained in the
apprenticeship training system.
/
In turn, that means each district’s outreach
plans will include work with employers and
employer groups and with “process stakeholders"
such as Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology
and Local Apprenticeship Committees, as well as
activities with community groups representing

9. Aren’t we doing outreach already when we go
out and talk to students and community
groups?
Apprenticeship staff across the province are
doing a lot of work in their communities. The
community outreach strategy will build on that
work and give it focus, so that maximum results
can be achieved. However, most of the
community work that we are doing right now is
concentrated on information-sharing: telling
community groups about apprenticeship.

Through the community outreach strategy,
staff in each district will begin to develop new
types of partnerships with different community
groups. These community partners may provide
us with advice on tailoring the delivery of
apprenticeship programs to meet the needs of
the community. Or, they may run different
types of projects, or provide different types of
apprenticeship client services in the community,
almost like an extension of our own offices.
Eventually, ITCs and other field staff may be
spending more time working with community
partners than they do working with individual
apprentices!

10. What types of groups will we be dealing
with under the outreach strategy, and what
types of projects will they run?
The community outreach strategy Is designed
to give individual communities and potential
community partners maximum flexibility to
design projects specific to their own particular
needs. Similarly, we hope to deal with a wide
range of possible partners in the community,
and make some long-term commitments to
those partners.

We will also be talking to traditional labour
market partners, such as Local Apprenticeship
Committees and Colleges of Applied Arts and
Technology. Going out into the community
and finding new partners who represent new
client groups will be a large part of the
outreach strategy.

11. How will outreach affect my job? Will I
have to start working with community
groups even if I’ve never done that kind of
work before? Will the work that I am doing
in the community be reassigned to those
new staff?

Outreach and Revitalization will eventually
become everyone’s responsibility... and
hopefully, revitalization will give everyone a
chance to add new and interesting dimensions
to their work.
Revitalization does not mean that every ITC
and every other field staffer will be doing the
same thing. New staff positions will be added
in each district to co-ordinate outreach
activities.

There will also be opportunities for other field
staff to participate in outreach activities from
project management to making presentations,
and in the new trades and improved quality
initiatives. While community partners may
eventually undertake various client service
functions, staff will still be directly involved
with client service, particularly as registration
in the system grows I

12. It is already difficult to serve our current
clients. Should we first concentrate on
improving client service, then move on to
something new?
Improving customer service is an ongoing
process. Customer service can be a lot better,
but it will never be perfect, so we will always
be improving it! We all know that some
aspects of the apprenticeship system are

working better than others. The Ministry is
working on Identified deficiencies through a
series of special customer service initiatives
and as part of the day-to-day operation of the
system.

13. Does outreach to designated groups mean
that we have to change standards and
dilute training?
No. The integrity of apprenticeship as
portable, employer-based training in highlyskilled occupations will be maintained.
Indeed, it is these very qualities - and the
economic advantages they confer - that make
apprenticeship an attractive option for
designated group members.
What may change is the manner In which we
deliver apprenticeship. Alternative models for
in-school training and examinations, for
example, may be better suited to the learning
styles of different groups.

14. Will field staff receive the skills needed to
do community outreach?

Ongoing training and development for all staff
is a necessary support for the outreach
strategy. Together staff and management-on
an individual basis and through the Employee
Relations Committee-will design appropriate
development packages to meet the new
requirements and competencies implied by
Revitalization. A key component will be training
for all client service staff in sensitivity to cultural
diversity, which we plan to deliver before the
end of the current fiscal year.
15. There have been a number of
“apprenticeship reform” initiatives
attempted in the past. What makes this
one any different?

Revitalization and outreach are being
implemented as part of the general shift of
decision-making responsibility to the district
and field offices. These initiatives are both
responsive to local community needs and
consistent with overall government priorities.
And, they will build on the established
expertise of apprenticeship field staff across
the province.
16. What happens next? How will Revitalization
and community outreach be implemented?

Just as we will be developing new partnerships
in the community as part of outreach, we will
also be developing new Internal partnerships to

implement Revitalization and outreach. Over
the coming weeks a number of teams will be
created to pool expertise from management and
staff, and from field and head offices, and work on
the various Initiatives.

One staff member in each district has been
temporarily assigned to plan and co-ordinate
district outreach activities as part of an
Outreach Working Group. These outreach co­
ordinators are currently working with district
management to plan outreach activities,
including an initial set of community access
projects. Other activities include community
apprenticeship meetings or open houses in
apprenticeship offices across the province.
If you have questions or concerns about
Apprenticeship Revitalization or the community
outreach strategy, please contact your district
outreach co-ordinator, or any other member of
the Outreach Working Group.

Presentations on Revitalization are being
scheduled for district meetings in the coming
weeks and months, and another Questions &
Answers paper will be published as soon as more
questions are received!

1. Expand apprenticeship as a school-to-work
transition vehicle, making it the third pillar in
the post-secondary education system, along with
college and university.
2. Expand apprenticeship into new trades and
occupations.

3. Expand apprenticeship in existing trades in
skills shortages areas.

District Outreach Co-ordinators
Central District Carolyn Zondervan (Barrie)

(705) 737-1431

Eastern District Bernard Hache (Ottawa)

(613) 731-7100

Northern District Carey Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie) (705) 945-6815
South-West District Naomi Shognosh (Chatham)

(519) 354-9615

Toronto District David Webb [Toronto Central)

(416) 326-5786

Program Standards Trenton Douglas

(416) 326-5570

Strategic Planning and Support Antonio Pacheco

(416) 967-8355

Women's Access
Gayle Quirie

(416) 326-5629

Policy Branch Peter Lloyd (Team Leader)

(416) 967-8438

4. Expand participation of under-represented
groups in apprenticeship training.
5. Reduce drop-outs from apprenticeship.

6. Improve the quality of in-school and on-the-job
training and increase the number of national
standards.
7. Improve client service.
Ministry of
Education
and Training