There’s a
revolution
happening in
skilled trades.
français
The revolution is being sparked by automation, low-carbon economies, digitization, and other emerging work trends. These new technologies need skills that are not usually at the core of a trade school education.
On behalf of the Future Skills Centre,
The Conference Board of Canada is researching Canadian apprenticeships as part of its work on experiential learning.
Tradespeople are using creative problem-solving to adapt to new challenges.
For example, when mechanics diagnose and repair electric cars, they need much more than a wrench and screwdriver.
They’re using digital diagnostic tools. Looking for solutions on YouTube. They are using skills and workarounds they might never have learned in their formal training.
What can we do to be sure emerging skills are included
in apprenticeship training?
Here’s the problem. There are two things we know very little about:
What new skills will be needed for different industries?
We don’t know the whole picture yet.
That’s why this is an important question for Canada.
Three big things will influence the future of trades education.
Automation
Low-carbon economy
Digitization
Let’s examine them one by one.
Automation is changing the nature of work. While most Canadian tradespeople are not concerned about losing their jobs to automation, apprentices are more anxious than journeypersons.
But employers say it’s hard to find people who can handle new technologies. Tradespeople will need to upgrade their technical skills to keep up with automation and robotics.
It’s more than technical skills. Tradespeople need social and emotional skills to adapt to technological change. These skills describe a person’s ability to build relationships, regulate their emotions and behaviour, collaborate, and communicate with others.
Automation
Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is vital. Working toward this goal is expected to create 7 million to 8 million new jobs by 2030.
Low-carbon economy
To get there, we need to develop green standards within existing occupations.
What are green skills? They are the competencies needed to work with green technologies, improve energy efficiency, and reduce waste.
Examples of green skills
Teamwork skills to collectively tackle environmental challenges
Entrepreneurial skills to realize low-carbon technologies
Technical skills to build, repair, and maintain renewable energy technologies
Knowledge of environmental regulations, energy efficiency, and waste management
The speed of digital disruption means schools will need to update courses in the trades more frequently and consult industry stakeholders at
a much earlier stage.
Mobile technologies are transforming the way skilled tradespeople work—from automotive technicians using digital diagnostic tools to apprentices learning new skills from instructional videos. Adapting to digitized workplaces will need a wide range of
digital skills.
What are digital skills? They are the skills needed to find, use, and create information using digital technology.
Digitization
Using smartphones as part of a
diagnostic process
Finding user manuals on a smartphone
Information management
Social networking
Examples of digital skills
Online instructional videos are already commonly used by tradespeople when they
run into a new challenge in the workplace.
Think YouTube.
Digital literacy is an important part of on-the-job troubleshooting. In Canadian workplaces, tradespeople already use digital technologies on the job. But the need to develop lifelong learning skills is a priority.
Teamwork skills to collectively tackle environmental challenges
Entrepreneurial skills to realize low-carbon technologies
Technical skills to build, repair, and maintain renewable energy technologies
Knowledge of environmental regulations, energy efficiency, and waste management
Examples of green skills
The speed of digital disruption means courses in the trades will need to be updated more frequently. It also means schools will need to consult with industry stakeholders at a much earlier stage.
Adapting to digitized workplaces will need a wide range of digital skills.
What are digital skills? They are the skills needed to find, use, and create information using digital technology.
Mobile skills to read blueprints on digital devices
Software skills to use computerized equipment
Programming skills to run programmable logic controllers
Information management skills to collect information on products, source new products, and monitor product usage
Examples of digital skills
Online instructional videos are already commonly used by tradespeople when they
run into a new challenge in the workplace.
Think YouTube.
Digital literacy is an important part of on-the-job troubleshooting. In Canadian workplaces, tradespeople already use digital technologies on the job. But the need to develop lifelong learning skills is a priority.
Transitioning to a low-carbon
economy will affect how skills are developed across many trades.
Demand for green buildings is growing in our cities and suburbs. This has led to widespread demand for workers with green skills in the construction industry.
Construction
With more demand for green buildings, trade schools will need to add green skills to their standards for existing occupations like carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.
Green buildings
In contrast, transitioning to a low-carbon economy will affect manufacturing and industrial trades in different ways, with larger effects in areas related to green products.
Manufacturing
On behalf of the Future Skills Centre, The Conference Board of Canada will study the skills required for the future of work in these trade sectors:
Change is coming
Automotive
Construction
Manufacturing
Food services
In this multi-year project, our researchers will:
Identify and rank the most important emerging skills needed to adapt to sector-specific future work trends.
Discover ways to bridge the gaps between the skills that will be needed and apprenticeship training.
Provide a roadmap for Canada to bring the best training possible to our newest generation of tradespeople—one that fosters the lifelong learning for them to adapt at all stages of their careers.
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1
How do we teach them?
2
Digitization
Problem-solving skills to analyze challenges and find solutions
Business development skills to realize the opportunities associated with new technologies
Communication skills to effectively listen to colleagues, ask questions, and recommend improvements to work processes
Collaboration skills to work with people
from other trades and backgrounds
Examples of social and emotional skills
Automation
Social and emotional skills describe a person’s ability to build relationships, regulate their emotions and behaviour, collaborate, and communicate with others.
Low-carbon economy
The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.
The Future Skills Centre – Centre des Compétences futures is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program.
