Call for Proposals: Investing in Green and Innovative Union Training for Thousands of Tradespeople

June 24, 2024

Canadian tradespeople are working hard to ensure Canada wins the global race for economic opportunity, as we advance towards net-zero while also charting a path to sustainably building over 3.8 million new homes by 2031. The Government of Canada is investing to ensure our workforce is ready to help build these homes, clean power plants, electric vehicles, and much more.

The federal government has launched a call for proposals under the new Sustainable Jobs Stream of the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy’s Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP). An investment of over $95 million over five years will help unions and their partners provide green training to approximately 20,000 apprentices and journeypersons. This call for proposals will be open until September 5, 2024.

As part of this funding, a separate agreement with the Government of Quebec will support the Province in implementing a program that accounts for the unique features of Quebec’s apprenticeship system. The activities funded in Quebec will align with those delivered elsewhere in Canada.

Through this investment, tradespeople will be better equipped to keep pace with the job skills that are in high demand, as industries shift to low-carbon alternatives, and global partners seek to buy Canadian clean technologies. This call for proposals complements the investment in the Sustainable Jobs Training Fund, which support tens of thousands of workers to upgrade or gain new skills for jobs in the low-carbon economy.

The UTIP Sustainable Jobs Stream is part of a new focus under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy to respond to the skilled trades workforce’s most pressing needs, including addressing barriers to successful entry, supporting progression and completion of apprenticeship, addressing the housing crisis, and increasing net-zero construction to unlock Canada’s economic potential.

To help address the growing need for skilled trades workers, Budget 2024 announced the Government’s intention to deliver a historic $90 million investment for the Apprenticeship Service to support small and medium-sized employers in creating placements for apprentices and $10 million for the Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program to encourage Canadians to explore and prepare for careers in the skilled trades.

The Government of Canada invests nearly $1 billion annually in apprenticeship supports through grants, loans, tax credits, Employment Insurance benefits during in-school training, project funding, and support for the Red Seal program to help build a robust skilled trades workforce for the future that is inclusive, certified and productive.

As part of the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Plan, today’s call for proposals under the Union Training and Innovation Program represents a vital contribution to a suite of measures that is unlocking Canadian leadership in growing low-carbon industries, and creating good-paying, sustainable jobs from coast to coast to coast. 

Quick Facts

• The UTIP Sustainable Jobs Stream and the Sustainable Jobs Training Fund are part of Canada’s comprehensive sustainable jobs approach, as outlined in the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act and interim Sustainable Jobs Plan for 2023–2025, which guides Canada’s efforts to move to a net-zero emissions economy.
• Bill C-50, the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act has now received Royal Assent, paving the way for workers, industries, Indigenous peoples and other Canadians to engage with Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council and Secretariat in the development of the 2025 Sustainable Jobs Action Plan. This historic legislation holds current and future governments accountable while charting a path for Canadian workers to thrive and succeed on the path to a more sustainable and prosperous future.
• Some examples of industries where tradespeople with green training are required include in low-carbon building construction, clean energy deployment, and across the zero-emission vehicles and battery supply chain. Home retrofits and new builds increasingly require construction workers to be equipped with specialized skills to work on energy efficient high-performing buildings. Automotive service technicians need skills to work with electric and hybrid vehicles.
• According to a Canadian Labour Congress and Pembina Institute report, clean energy jobs could make up approximately 10% of employment, or a total of 2 million direct and indirect jobs, in a 2050 net-zero scenario.
• The Royal Bank of Canada estimates that building a net-zero-emissions economy could create up to 400,000 new jobs in Canada by the end of this decade alone.
• According to data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform, more than half of apprentices in Red Seal trades in Canada in 2021 worked in the construction sector, the majority of which contributed to the construction of homes.
• BuildForce Canada’s data suggests the residential construction sector will be short 41,200 workers over the next 10 years.
• According to a 2022 Royal Bank report, approximately 40% of new jobs in the trades, transport and equipment occupations will need an enhanced skillset.

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