1.What sector are you in?

2.Do you hire apprentices currently?

3.If no, have you hired apprentices in the past?

4.What trades do you currently hire apprentices in?

5.If you don’t hire apprentices currently, what trades did you used to hire apprentices in?

6.How many employees do you have working at your company?

7.What province or territory do you work in?

8.Is your company a part of a larger national or international company?

9.How do you find most of your apprentices?

10.Do you use any job posting websites and employment centres, etc. offered by organizations in their region such as Job Bank, CCQ, or platform sites like TaskRabbit, LinkedIn to find apprentices?

11.Do you hire apprentices during certain times of the year? If yes, what are the months where you hire the most apprentices?

12.How do the needs of your business for apprentices vary by Level/Stage of apprenticeship completion (e.g. Level I, Level II), if applicable?

13.How long would you generally expect an apprentice to remain with your business following their recruitment?

14.How have the disruptions caused by COVID-19 impacted your ability to hire and train apprentices?

15.How have those challenges and experiences changed since the end of 2021?

16.Given the current economic situation, do you think hiring apprentices is still a good decision for your business? Why or why not?

17.Do you think there is a business case for apprenticeship? Why or why not?

18.Given the current business realities such as labour shortages, inflation and rising interest rates, what are your concerns when recruiting and training apprentices, in particular apprentices newly registered in the last two years?

19.Are there specific challenges in your region and sector ? How have you coped with these challenges?

20.Are there barriers to finding journeypersons willing to mentor and/or train apprentices as part of their job/role with the company?

21.What emerging skills do you currently need related to:
-Digital skills
-Integrating technologies and practices relating to climate change, carbon neutral and environmentally friendly building practices
-Soft or employability skills
-Essential Skills or Skills for Success (i.e., math, reading, writing, problem solving, adaptability

22.Which skills will be most important to you in the short, medium and long term?

23.Are there any barriers that present challenges to you in helping to equip your workforce with the skills needed for the future? If yes, what are they?

24.If employer is small or medium sized, are you able to offer full scope of trade experience necessary for apprentices to receive certifications as journeypersons?

25.What are your perspectives, experiences and concerns with respect to hiring ·        

-Women
-Indigenous
-Racialized Canadians (e.g., Black Canadians)
-Newcomers
-Persons with disabilities
-LGBTQ2+

26.What are some the measures/actions have you taken to recruit members of these groups and/or to make them feel welcome in the workplace?

27.What additional resources or supports could help employers to promote diversity and inclusion in their workforces and to hire and retain more easily apprentices from equity-deserving groups?

28.What are your perspectives on the impacts, effectiveness and usability of financial incentives and supports from federal and provincial governments or from other sources to hire and train apprentices?

29.Where do you seek, and expect to find, information on supports for apprenticeship?

30.At what point in the apprenticeship cycle do you need more support?

31.Is $5K a sufficient financial incentive to motivate you to access the program (i.e., is it worth their time and effort?) What is the minimum government financial support necessary to incentivize employers to hire a first-year apprentice?

32.What do you think of the focus, eligibility criteria and parameters of the Apprenticeship Service? (For those who do not know, the Apprenticeship Service is a federal program where small and medium-sized employers may receive $5,000 for hiring first-year apprentices (Level 1/Block 1) . An additional$5,000 is provided for those who hire from equity-deserving groups. In addition to financial incentives, employers will be able to access other supports, such as ‘welcoming workplace training’, making it easier for them to hire and retain first-year apprentices. The program is slated to end in 2024.)

33.What additional supports, including non-financial supports, could be valuable to employers? At which point(s) in the process/business cycle would these supports be most useful?

34.Email Emily Arrowsmith at emily@caf-fca.org if you would like your gift card.