How Should Alberta Regulate Skilled Trades and Apprenticeships?
Official title: Skilled trades and apprenticeship engagement
Why This Matters
Thinking about a career in the trades? This shaped how Alberta trains and certifies electricians, plumbers, welders, and dozens of other skilled workers. If you're an apprentice, employer, or journeyperson, these rules affect your path to certification and your workplace.
What Could Change
The new act created more flexible certification models beyond just compulsory and optional categories. A new appointed board now oversees skilled trades, with modernized compliance and enforcement powers. Appeal processes were updated, and industry engagement activities were restructured.
Key Issues
- What should the eligibility criteria and roles be for apprenticeship sponsors?
- How can on-the-job learning be strengthened, including mentorship and competency assessments?
- What flexible certification models should a new board be able to create?
- How should appeal processes and compliance activities be modernized?
How to Participate
- Stakeholders were invited to participate in virtual focus groups and online surveys in June and July 2021. This engagement is now closed.
What Happened
Stakeholder feedback helped inform regulations, policies and program changes under the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act. The act received Royal Assent on June 17, 2021, repealing the Apprenticeship and Industry Training Act to make the system more flexible and reduce red tape.