GDI is a Saskatchewan-based educational, employment and cultural institute serving Métis across the province
Sep 7, 2017
Posted in: Apprenticeship
By James Oloo
In February 2015, Gabriel Dumont Institute and Western Economic Diversification Canada launched a three-year $3.1 million federally funded GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Program (2014-2017). The new project had five key goals: 1) create at least 150 new trades-related apprenticeship jobs; 2) partner with 100 new employers in 15 different trades; and 3) 100 Aboriginal participants indentured (registered) with the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) as apprentices. Others included; 4) 50 apprentices complete one term of technical training; and 5) 50 participants complete trades-focused General Educational Development (GED).
As at June 30, 2017, the Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project has met and surpassed all the five performance indicators are summarized below.
The GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project has created a total of 406 new trades-related jobs for our Aboriginal participants across Saskatchewan. The 406 refers to unique participants who were placed with employers – in 605 positions. This represents 270% of the project’s goal of 150 new apprenticeship jobs.
Of the 406 Aboriginal participants who have been placed with employers, 46 (or 11%) are women and 360 (89%) are men. By comparison, there were 9,437 registered apprentices in Saskatchewan in 2015-2016, 9.3% (or 879) of whom were women and 90.7% men.
Further, while women are underrepresented in the Saskatchewan apprenticeship system, they make up even a smaller proportion of apprentices who are registered in Traditionally Male Trades (such as carpenter, plumber, and electrician). For example, in 2015-2016 (the latest figures available), just 5.0% (or 464) of the 9,437 registered apprentices in the province were women in the Traditionally Male Trades. Although the proportion of the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project participants who are women in the Traditionally Male Trades was relatively low at 9.3% (or 38 women out of a total of 406 participants), GDI fared better than the Saskatchewan numbers at 9.3% versus 5.0% respectively. Are women less likely to choose Traditionally Male Trades? There were 879 registered women apprentices in Saskatchewan in 2015-2016. Of these, 464 (or 52.8%) were registered in Traditionally Male Trades. And at the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project, 38 (or 82.6%) of the 46 women participants are in the Traditionally Male Trades. In this illustration, we have used total Saskatchewan apprentice numbers for just one year, namely, 2015-2016 as presented in the SATCC Annual Report. The registered number of apprentices in Saskatchewan often fluctuates from year to year.
Another target of the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project was to partner with 100 employers in 15 different trades. As of June 30, 2017, GDI Training and Employment has partnered with 245 employers in 30 different trades.
A GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project participant is indentured (that is, registered as an apprentice in the province of Saskatchewan) with the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Commission (SATCC) after 90 days of start of work. As of June 30, 2017, 154 participants in the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project have been indentured with the SATCC as Year I apprentices. This represents 154% of the project target of 100 indentured participants.
Another performance indicator for the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project was to have 50 indentured participants complete at least one term of technical training. As of June 30, 2017, 171 participants (or 342% of the goal) from all levels of their trade, namely Level I to Level IV, have completed at least one level of technical training.
In order to create more opportunities for potential participants without qualifications to enter the apprenticeship program, GDI Training & Employment committed to offering a trades-focused General Educational Development (GED), a high school equivalency diploma, to two cohorts for a total of 50 participants. At the end of the second cohort of training, the number of total completions was 40 (or 80% of the target). GDI Training & Employment and Dumont Technical Institute partnered to offer a third cohort of training in Pinehouse, Sask. Twelve participants successfully completed the third cohort of the trades-focused GED training for a total completion of 52 or 104% of the goal. Dumont Technical Institute, Pinehouse Business North, and the Government of Saskatchewan, through the Provincial Training Allowance, funded the program in Pinehouse.
GDI Training & and Employment has met and exceeded all five of the performance targets for the GDI Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project ahead of the project end date of December 2017. Congratulations the GDI Training & Employment Director Lisa Wilson and her staff across Saskatchewan for the job well done.
GDI is a Saskatchewan-based educational, employment and cultural institute serving Métis across the province
