Apprenticeship Across Canada: Public Sector Profile
John Smith
Department of National Defence (DND)
The views and opinions presented in this profile are those of the participant and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum or of DND.
Victoria, British Columbia
Overview
The Department of National Defence (DND) is vital to the
safety and security of Canada and Canadians. Within
DND, apprenticeship is essential to the preservation of
skills targeted at maintaining the navy vessels that
support Canadian military operations. The Fleet
Maintenance Facility Cape Breton (FMFCB) has five
production groups that employ apprentices. In Victoria,
John Smith is one of several Group Managers as well as
the Apprenticeship Manager, overseeing ten shops and
the apprenticeship program. Eighteen of the more than
70 apprentices employed by DND Victoria report directly
to John.
Employing Apprentices
FMFCB employs apprentices in order to maintain
qualified tradespeople who possess the skills and
requirements to work on DND equipment. Those
apprentices also fit into the DND HR and capacity plan.
FMFCB employs apprentices in order to maintain and
advance the specific skill sets that are required by this
organization. “We want to keep the skill set moving
forward,” John explains, highlighting the need to, “look at
our capability plan and our future. We look at who is
retiring and how much time they have left to work. We
know how many people we need to bring on in order to
have them trained by that date.”
Benefits of Employing Apprentices
“Working for the military,” John explains, “we have a lot
of specialized trades and jobs that we have to do. An
apprentice is taught to work on the equipment that we
use on our war ships and navy vessels. If we hire someone
from the outside, it takes a while to get them up to speed
on what we do here. Specific training based on our needs
and with the equipment we work on is of the utmost
importance.”
FMFCB takes the time to train apprentices. “A lot of our
apprentices come back top of their class from the trade
schools.” This is not only important to increase the value
of skilled tradespeople who work for DND, but is also a
source of pride for the entire unit.
John points out that the overall knowledge base of their
organization is expanded through the skills that
apprentices bring into the workplace. “Some of them
come from a different generation, so they give a different
perspective of value and they add to the culture. We gain
differences which change the shops culturally when
veterans retire and new people come on. This change is
positive.” According to John, DND supports
apprenticeship training, “because we find added value in
employing them.”
Benefits to Journeypersons
There are a number of benefits to journeypersons that
come along with employing and training apprentices.
“The journeypersons here really take pride in teaching,”
John explains. “They have an opportunity to pass down
knowledge and it is rewarding for them to train an
apprentice.”
Journeypersons are able to pass along their skills and this
is extremely important because some of the required
skills are very specific. This provides journeypersons a
chance to teach apprentices skills that they would not
have otherwise learned in class, and provides
journeypersons with the ability to mentor, train and
watch an apprentice grow.
John explains that journeypersons also benefit in other
ways, sometimes receiving requests from training
organizations to create information for training courses.
He supports this type of information and knowledge
sharing. “We want to share our expertise and maintain
open dialogue with training organizations. This allows
journeypersons to give back even more to the
community and take pride in the work they have
achieved.”
Learning from apprentices is another reward that
journeypersons receive. “You don't just train
apprentices, you also learn from them.”
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum
Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage
Inclusiveness
John is attuned to the need for inclusion in his
workplace and explains that, “apprentices are an
integral part of our workforce. They are treated like
every other employee and they work like every other
employee.”
John explains, “we are a leader in the Employment
Equity Trades Orientation Program (EETOP) and in past
years, we have focused on First Nations, all ethnic
groups, and this year the EETOP is focusing on women
in the trades.” He noted that more women are entering
the trades and explained that their corporate culture
“does not tolerate harassment in any form.”
Additional outreach initiatives undertaken by FMFCB
include speaking to First Nations communities and
international audiences to promote their
apprenticeship program.
Public Sector Employers Should be Involved
To support HR and capacity planning, apprentices are
hired and trained to expand the knowledge base of
FMFCB. Apprentices are also hired to stay on the
cutting-edge of skills and technology, and to replace
retiring journeypersons. “It's no different than any
other company. You get new people in there and teach
them. They are the future. They are the leaders of the
future. You teach them now how you want them to
teach others in the future, and it is a good culture to be
a part of. To be taught and to be able to share what you
know with others has many advantages. Even in the
apprenticeship programs, we have fourth year
apprentices that help first year apprentices because
they are dedicated to that culture of helping, learning
and sharing information, which creates a better team
dynamic.”
John points out that the feederal government has
moved to national area selection on all apprenticeship
hiring, which has opened hiring up to the public and
apprentices can now come from across Canada.
FMFCB has a plan in place that helps them make
decisions based on the need for additional apprentices
in specific trades, and ensures adequate retention of
essential skills.
National area selection can be a challenge, as John
explains, “because you have to send and conduct
testing in remote areas of Canada.” This is a public
sector challenge to which John provides answers. “We
create a very clear and precise test that can be
administered remotely because we are not there to
administer the test and field any questions from
people. We have to provide clear rules for the tests.”
FMFCB sometimes hires apprentices through the SSA
(Secondary School Apprenticeship, more information
available online at www.itabc.ca) and, because some
apprentices lack on-the-job experience, those
apprentices may need extra guidance and mentorship.
FMFCB mitigates this challenge by providing
apprentices with a performance appraisal every two
months. “Problems rarely get to me because the
journeyperson will let the apprentice know what is
needed of them and explain to them that they have a
great opportunity. It is a self-correcting work
environment due to the culture. People come together
to help the new apprentices understand how good they
have it here. Generally, unless they move, they are not
going to quit.”
Apprenticeship Works for DND Victoria
John explains how apprenticeship works for FMFCB:
“To work here, you have to be part of the culture. The
culture here is to share your knowledge. Our
apprenticeship program has been hugely successful. A
lot of our great journeypersons were once apprentices
here at DND.”
For more employer profiles or further information on
apprenticeship, go to www.caf-fca.org.
Overcoming Challenges
John points out that, “with the tighter economy and
our work changing with ever-increasing demands, we
have to right-size ourselves for the work and anticipate
these changes when bringing on new apprentices.”
This project was funded by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program.