Summary of the Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

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Summary of the Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants [PDF - 320 KB]

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Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants

The Apprenticeship Grants program, which is composed of the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant, the Apprenticeship Completion Grant and the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women, allows apprentices to receive up to $4,000Footnote 1 in lifetime grants to pay for tuition, travel, tools, or other expenses. They aim to increase access to skilled trades in Canada by reducing financial barriers and encouraging progression and completion of an apprenticeship program. In 2017 to 2018, over 66,000 grants were issued – totalling almost $89 million in disbursements.

Key findings

The Apprenticeship Grants have made a limited contribution towards attracting individuals to apprenticeships due in part to lack of awareness of the program. However, they have contributed to the decision to continue in, and ultimately complete, an apprenticeship training.

Financial burdens continue to be an issue for apprentices, especially for some under-represented groups, such as women and the Indigenous population.

In 2016, 48.8% of the grant recipients were not using other federal financial supports beyond the Apprenticeship Grants.

Apprentices face significant non-financial barriers such as job instability, lack of access to apprenticeship training, unsupportive employers and a stigma regarding women entering the trades as a career choice.

Recommendation

  1. Examine how the grants could be modified as part of the broader suite of federal apprenticeship supports by taking into account key evaluation findings, including challenges/ barriers faced by groups such as, women, and Indigenous people.

The full Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants is now available.

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