The government of Alberta is pledging to help quadruple the number of apprenticeship opportunities available to high school students.
The United Conservative government announced this week a commitment to increase opportunities for youth in skilled trades with the hope of preventing a shortage of skilled workers.
"It's for kids in Grades 10, 11 and 12 to get that first taste and try out a trade while they're in high school," explained Janis Lawrence-Harper, vice president of operations.
About 3,000 trades workers retire each year in Alberta.
CAREERS: The Next Generation would like to see the number of apprenticeship opportunities grow to 6,000 over the next few years.
According to CAREERS, 70 per cent of opportunities are in trades, while the rest are in health services and technology.
"Our biggest opportunities as we try to grow out are through those avenues, but also a really big one coming online for us is information and communications technologies," Lawrence-Harper said.
Such opportunities are extremely beneficial to high school students: "By starting in high school, you've cut off almost a year of that three to four year process of becoming a trades person," she told CTV News.
An apprenticeship program is exactly what helped Riley Cartier become one of the youngest head chefs in the Earl's restaurant chain. Today, he leads 10 new apprentices.
"I gained about 20 credits towards my graduation. I was working full-time in Grade 12 working at Earl's and having a blast and getting paid to learn at the exact same time," recalled Cartier.
Cartier started at the chain as a dishwasher.
"I was able to learn at such a young age. I was a Grade 12 student and I was learning how to run a $7-million restaurant, which was just so cool."
As part of the agreement, Alberta will work with Ontario to share data and best practices in developing the provinces' respective apprenticeship programs.
With files from Amanda Anderson
