Success stories: Mike
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Success stories: Mike - Transcript
Mike Fisher, Plumber.
My name's Mike Fisher. I'm a licensed plumber.
One of the advantages of the skilled trades would be, once you become licensed, it's something that you have for the rest of your life. If you choose a different career path, you can always come back to be a licensed plumber, so that's a huge advantage.
My father said: "It's a great career, and you should try to take this path because once all the baby boomers retire, you are going to be a hot commodity!" It's true; I'm seeing it today, and I'm glad he told me to get into it.
The apprenticeship grants were really helpful, and just a little extra money when you get out of school, you get back into the field, motivation too, to keep going.
The first thing I did when I got licensed, I went to register a business. Hard work pays off.
Mike’s story: Licensed Plumber
After high school, Mike was a bit lost. He didn’t follow his friends to university, but he struggled to find work that he liked to do that paid well. It wasn’t until his father pointed out that jobs in the trades were growing in demand that he considered an apprenticeship program in Plumbing. “Doing an apprenticeship program is like a degree minus the debt, because of the Government of Canada Apprenticeship Grants. When I got out of school I was making the same salary as my friends with degrees – the ones that could find jobs in their field.”
As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government made a commitment to encourage skilled trades and apprenticeships by investing in apprenticeship grants. To date the Government has provided over 475 000 apprenticeship grants to help Canadians training for jobs in any of the 57 designated Red Seal trades. The Red Seal Program promotes a national standard of excellence in the skilled trades, highly valued by employers.
Mike benefited from the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant where registered apprentices are eligible to receive a taxable cash grant of $1,000 per year for registered apprentices who successfully complete their first and/or second year/level (or equivalent) of an apprenticeship program in a designated Red Seal trade.
He also recently received the 500,000th Apprenticeship Completion Grant worth an additional $2,000 also available to registered apprentices who have completed their apprenticeship training and obtained their journeyperson certification in a designated Red Seal trade. The benefits of Government financial support are huge, in Mike’s own words: “The biggest advantage to the Canada Apprenticeship Grants is that you don’t rack up a bunch of debt while you’re learning. You get to work full-time towards your career while you’re getting an education.”
Apprenticeship Grants helped Mike offset the cost of his training and provided him with the funds to buy the tools he needed. “Plumbing was the right move for me. No matter where I go I take that skill with me. This is my career.”
In addition to the Canada Apprenticeship Incentive and Completion Grants, the new interest-free Canada Apprentice Loan offers up to $4,000 per period of Red Seal technical training to help apprentices get their ticket.
Visit Canada.ca/Apprentice today to find our if you qualify!
Learn more about support for apprentices
Find more videos on the ESDC YouTube about apprenticeship training and skills support from the Government of Canada.
Visit Support for apprentices for information on more programs available to help apprentices complete their training and for employers to hire and train apprentices.
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