Information for Teachers, Career Counsellors and Parents
If you are providing career advice and guidance to high school students, this is the page for you. It presents key information about careers in Red Seal trades and links to sites with useful information on how to begin an apprenticeship.
“Skilled trades” refers to a wide variety of occupations in several industries, including construction, transportation, manufacturing and service.
Choosing the Skilled Trades
Here are some reasons you might encourage teens to choose a career in the skilled trades.
- Skilled trades offer strong, out-of-the-cubicle job prospects.
- Apprentices earn while they learn, so they can start their careers without big debt loads.
- There are financial incentives for apprentices who complete various stages within an apprenticeship program for a designated Red Seal trade.
What is an Apprenticeship?
Apprenticeship is a model of training where students learn a skilled trade by working in that trade. It is a formal agreement between an apprentice, their employer, and the provincial or territorial apprenticeship authority. Most of the training is on-the-job, and it is usually accompanied by some periods of in-school technical training as well.
Learn all about apprenticeships by reading these guides:
Your province or territory may also have apprenticeship guides particular to their jurisdiction.
What is the Red Seal?
The Red Seal is the national standard of excellence for skilled trades, and endorses more than 500,000 Canadian tradespeople. The Red Seal provides a competitive hiring advantage to workers in the skilled trades.
Red Seal Trades
Find out more about Canada’s 56 Red Seal trades.
Benefits of the Red Seal
- The Red Seal provides a nationally recognized standard for competency and quality workmanship, and identifies tradespeople as skilled and knowledgeable.
- In many cases, achieving trade certification in a Red Seal trade is equal in value to the completion of college certification in terms of trade knowledge and skill.
- Red Seal endorsed tradespeople obtain easily transferable skills, ideal for new workers interested in career development and industry mobility.
Red Seal Endorsement (RSE)
Encourage students to become qualified skilled journeypersons and obtain their Red Seal endorsement. Once a Red Seal endorsement is obtained, they can start using the RSE acronym after their name as an easy way to reflect their qualifications.
Financial Support
Grants are available to help apprentices to proceed with and complete an apprenticeship and become certified in a Red Seal trade.
How to Start an Apprenticeship
There are three key steps to apprenticeship:
- Learn about the many options among the skilled trades and choose a trade.
- Find an employer for on-the-job-training. In some provinces and territories, this can start off as a co-op placement during high school.
- Register as an apprentice with your employer and visit the Why the trades? website
- What’s an apprenticeship?
- Information for teachers and guidance counsellors
- Information for parents
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