).Organizations seeking to promote women in the trades also reported important resource concerns at community levels. Resource constraints, for example, affected the capacity of local Women in Technology and Trades (WITT) organizations to promote particular training programs, provide training supports to women, and establish training
centres of their own ().
Focus-group participants commented on the lack of schools’ capacity to promote apprenticeship and the shortage of trades programs, equipment, curriculum and teachers (
). This barrier is a particular concern with regard to First Nations schools in northern regions and rural areas of Canada. In one focus group, researchers heard how, in smaller communities, many schools only go up to Grade 9, because there are so few students.
Students in these communities have to relocate to continue their secondary education ().
In most jurisdictions, only school boards funded by the province or territory are eligible for secondary-school apprenticeship funding. Aboriginal youth may miss out on such programs, because First Nations schools are funded by the federal government ().
Aboriginal students tend to have fewer opportunities to participate in high-school pre-employment or training programs, which provide valuable work experience and the opportunity to acquire basic work skills. A number of key informants and focus-group participants identified the lack of exploratory and pre-apprenticeship training, and work-experience opportunities as a barrier to Aboriginal people entering apprenticeships (). One study concluded that preparatory courses were either not available or unable to accommodate the needs of equity-group members interested in obtaining the skills necessary to apply for apprenticeships (CLFDB, 1995).
Focus groups, key informants and research literature (CLFDB, 1999) stress that Aboriginal apprenticeship opportunities should be linked to First Nations’ community and economic needs and planning. It was suggested that the needs of rural and remote First Nations communities be assessed and apprenticeships
tied to such needs ().
A variety of different support mechanisms is lacking for Aboriginal people to pursue apprenticeships. In fact, few programs exist to provide continuing support from the apprenticeship stage through to eventual certification (McDonald Human Resources, 1994). These mechanisms include mentors, community supports, academic upgrading opportunities, tutors and counselling. Supports are particularly crucial for young Aboriginal people who have to relocate from small communities or reserves to cities or larger centres to pursue the in-school portions of their apprenticeships. The absence of supports can constitute a significant barrier for Aboriginal people. As one respondent noted:
“When these young people find themselves in a city with other apprentices, many of whom are much older, the support becomes more important. Workplace or classroom teasing may lead some, who are unprepared for it, to abandon their apprenticeship. Aboriginal people who have grown up in an urban setting have fewer difficulties here” (
Current government programs are said to lack the support services that Aboriginal people often need to upgrade their high school math, sciences and English skills (). Difficulties in dealing with the apprenticeship system, including the need for assistance in completing documentation, have also been identified as a barrier (Cook Consulting, 2001). Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement agencies may fund some academic upgrading tied to apprenticeship, but they cannot afford to fund all required pre-apprenticeship upgrading. Furthermore, there are relatively few resources and schools that offer general academic upgrading, particularly in rural areas ().
Focus-group participants and key informants indicated that colleges and post-secondary training
institutions need to offer more support to Aboriginal apprentices in helping them acquire learning skills, prepare for exams, and access upgrading programs (). One focus-group participant
stated, “If you don’t pass a College Prep program, you have to start all over again rather than just redo areas where one failed” ().