Skills Canada campaign focuses on essential trades skills

Skills Canada is promoting the importance of essential skills for young trades people in a national awareness campaign.

The nine essential skills campaign highlights the basic skills, as identified by Employment and Social Development Canada, that are used in almost every job: numeracy, oral communications, teamwork, continuous learning, reading text, writing, thinking, document use and digital skills.

A recent Ipsos Reid survey done for ABC Life Literacy Canada shows that 74 per cent of Canadian employers consider essential skills as “strategically relevant to their business.” 

“We recognize the impact of current demographic shifts on skilled labour and are taking steps to ensure that we continue to provide a skilled and professional workforce for our membership,” said John Telford, director of Canadian Affairs, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA).

With a membership of over 300,000, the UA is one of the largest employers of apprentices in Canada and a sponsor of Skills Canada.

“We place an extremely high value on the importance of skills training and education, and through partnerships with industry and organizations like Skills Canada, it is our goal to continue to meet rigorous standards of service excellence within the skilled trades,” he said. 

For more information visit www.skillscanada.com