• The unemployment rate in the trades is at a 20-year low in Nova Scotia. Industry experts believe that in order to sustain current levels of employment, three to four thousand new tradespeople are needed in this province alone! (www.buildingfutures.ca)

• By 2007, 1/3 of jobs in Canada will require a skilled trade certification or college diploma. (Job Futures 2000/www.hrsdc.gc.ca)

• In the next two decades, 40% of new jobs will be in the skilled trades and technologies. In 1998, that number was less than 20%. (www.skillscanada.com)

• Only 48% of Canadians are accepted in college or university. Young people need to consider all of the options on the road to a career. There are great options, such as apprenticeship, that can provide the training to build a successful career. (statistic from: Dr. Jean Marmoreo, “School’s ending, but the pressure’s only starting”, May 15th 2004, Globe and Mail)

• Each time apprentices successfully complete their theory training, their rate of pay gets higher. (NSapprenticeship.ca)

• The construction industry employs 900,000 Canadian men and women in about 50 different trades. (www.canadacareerweek.com)

• By 2020, Canada will be facing a labour shortage of nearly 1 million workers. ( www.workitns.ca )

• Many more people in the skilled trades are retiring than are entering the system. The hardest-hit industries will be manufacturing, construction, petroleum production and transportation. (www.skillscanada.com)

• In 2004, only 1/3 of students could define a journeyperson and fewer than 40 percent believed that apprentices required employment. (Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Board Youth Decision Survey 2004)