Canada has a shortage of tradespeople that will worsen this decade unless educators, employers, and policy-makers respond, according to a recent report by the Royal Bank of Canada. “Educators, employers, and policy-makers will need to address chronic problems in the trades pipeline, tap into underused pools of talent, and address a widening digital skills gap amid rapid technological advances in the workplace,” states the report titled “Powering Up: Preparing Canada’s skilled trades for a post-pandemic economy.” The report says the nation could be 100,000 skilled tradespeople short within five years, including at least 10,000 in the 56 Red Seal trades and the rest in the 250 provincially regulated trades. Workers in trades critical to the anticipated infrastructure boom amid post-pandemic economic recovery, including industrial mechanics, welders, and boilermakers, are in particularly severe shortage. In addition, by 2028, over 700,000 skilled tradespeople are expected to retire. In manufacturing alone, one-quarter of the workforce …
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