Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
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Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

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What is apprenticeship?

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Apprenticeship is an agreement between a person (an apprentice) who wants to learn a skill and an employer who needs a skilled worker. Apprenticeship combines on-the-job experience with technical classroom training. For some apprentices, especially in Quebec, the classroom training can be taken upfront through the secondary school system, followed by on-the-job training.

After completing both the classroom and the on-the-job training, apprentices can receive journeyperson certification or a certificate of qualification, allowing them to earn a higher wage and work anywhere in Canada. Depending on the trade, it takes about 2 to 5 years as an apprentice to become a certified journeyperson. About 80% of the training is in the workplace; the rest is at a training institution.

Over 200 apprenticeship training programs are currently available across Canada. Each province and territory has its own training and certification policies and its own list of designated apprenticeship programs. The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program (Red Seal Program) provides information on apprenticeship in each province and territory.

Definitions

Advanced standing

Apprentices with significant prior learning (for example, who’ve completed a pre-apprenticeship program) or experience may register in an advanced year/level of an apprenticeship program.

Apprenticeship authority

Each province and territory has a governing body in charge of apprenticeship training, regulation and certification. This apprenticeship authority is part of the province or territory’s department/ministry of education and training. A list of provincial and territorial contacts is available on the Red Seal Web site.

Block, level, year, period

In most cases, there is no difference between the term “block”, “level”, “year” and “period”. Different wording is used in different provinces and territories. Generally, all terms refer to the completion of some combination of technical training and on-the-job experience.

However for Québec apprentices registered with the Commission de la Construction du Québec (CCQ), there is a difference between the terms "period" and "level". Please visit "Apprentices Registered in Quebec" for more information.

Certificate of apprenticeship, Completion of apprenticeship

Provincial and territorial apprenticeship authorities issue a certificate of apprenticeship (or equivalent) to registered apprentices who successfully complete their technical and on the-job training.

Designated Red Seal trade

A designated Red Seal trade is a trade that has been designated by the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) for inclusion in the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program. The training and certification of Red Seal trades is based on national occupational standards. Provinces and territories participating in the Red Seal Program for that trade may affix a Red Seal symbol to the certificates of candidates who meet the Red Seal standard.

Journeyperson certification, Certificate of qualification

Journeyperson certification is a certificate issued to tradespeople who successfully complete an apprenticeship program or who meet all the requirements of a trade and attain the prescribed pass mark on the certification exam. Certified journeypersons can earn a higher wage and work anywhere in Canada.

Progression in apprenticeship

Each provincial and territorial apprenticeship authority determines the requirements for progression, that is, the requirements for continuing to the next year/level in apprenticeship training.

Protected person

A protected person is someone who has reason to fear persecution in his or her country of origin due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion. In Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada decide who is a protected person.

Red Seal

The Red Seal is a symbol of certified journeypersons’ interprovincial qualifications in desigated Red Seal trades. Adopted by the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program, the Red Seal is placed on the provincial or territorial certificate of apprenticeship and on the journeyperson certification. More than 50 trades are currently designated as Red Seal trades, comprising about 90% of all apprentices and more than 80% of the total trades workforce in Canada.

Trade qualifier

A trade qualifer is a tradesperson with significant experience who is asessed by the provincial or territorial apprenticeship authority and allowed to write the final trade certification exam without having completed an apprenticeship program.

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Date Modified:
2011-09-08