Fixing Canada’s apprenticeship system

By Richard Lyall

for On-Site

Aug. 5, 2026

Canada is in the midst of an ambitious nation-building project. Governments are promising to build more homes, expand transit networks, modernize infrastructure and invest in clean energy.

Yet all of those goals depend on one critical ingredient: having enough skilled tradespeople to do the work.

That’s the problem.

Evidence increasingly points to the fact that the apprenticeship system is not working as well as it should. Completion rates have remained stagnant despite years of investment. It is time to stop treating the problem as a lack of participation and start addressing it as a failure of design.

While apprenticeship registrations continue to rise, the number of workers who complete their training and receive certification is falling behind.

The bottom line?

Canada is attracting apprentices, but it is not successfully guiding enough of them to the finish line.

An independent report prepared for RESCON argues that Canada’s apprenticeship crisis stems from something far deeper: a system designed around incorrect assumptions about human behaviour.

The report, Are We Ready to Build Canada? A Behavioural Analysis of Canada’s Construction Talent Pipeline and Skills Training Policy, was authored by Nathaniel Barr, professor of creativity and senior advisor, innovation at Sheridan College; Michael McNamara, professor of creativity and director of the Community Ideas Factory at Sheridan; and James K. Stewart, economist and a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute.

Their conclusion is striking. The apprenticeship challenge is not primarily an economic problem. It is a design problem.

For decades, training policy has been built on the assumption that if people are given enough information, financial support and access to programs, they will naturally complete their training. The authors argue that research shows that real-life human behaviour rarely works that way.

People face uncertainty. They experience self-doubt. They become overwhelmed by complexity. They struggle to balance work, family and training obligations. They procrastinate. They abandon plans that once seemed achievable. Yet apprenticeship systems are too often designed as though participants will navigate every obstacle rationally and independently.

The result is a system that offers opportunities but does not adequately help people succeed.

The report highlights that apprenticeship completion rates in Canada have remained stuck since 2013 at roughly 20 per cent of registrations. That means four out of five registrants are not completing the process within the system’s current framework. At a time when construction labour shortages are widely recognized and demand for skilled workers remains strong, that should set off alarm bells across the country.

Fewer certified tradespeople mean fewer homes built, longer infrastructure timelines and reduced economic productivity. The costs run into billions of dollars in lost GDP, worker income and tax revenues.

The findings are supported by other research. A recent Signal49 report prepared for the Future Skills Centre reached a similar conclusion. While more people are registering in apprenticeship programs, many do not complete their training on time or leave their programs altogether. As a result, the supply of skilled tradespeople is failing to keep pace with growing demand.

More than 700,000 skilled trades workers are expected to retire by 2028. In construction alone, approximately 15 per cent of the workforce is projected to retire by 2034. Meanwhile, Canada continues to grapple with a severe housing shortage and growing infrastructure needs.

Clearly, just attracting more apprentices is not enough. Measuring registrations without focusing on completions is like celebrating university admissions while ignoring graduation rates.

The RESCON report challenges governments to rethink how they measure success. Instead of concentrating primarily on how many people enter apprenticeship programs, policymakers should focus on how many trainees actually complete them and become certified.

More importantly, the authors argue that Canada should begin applying behavioural science to apprenticeship policy. In other words, the system should be designed around human realities rather than economic theory alone.

Behavioural science examines how people actually make decisions and respond to challenges. It studies factors such as cognitive overload, social influence, status quo bias and present bias - the tendency to focus on immediate pressures rather than long-term rewards.

These concepts have practical implications. If apprentices are dropping out because systems are overly complicated, then simplifying processes could have a major impact. If apprentices struggle with motivation during key stages of training, targeted supports could help.

This is not an argument against funding. More support for apprenticeship programs is and will continue to play an important role. But funding, by itself, cannot overcome a flawed design.

Canada has spent years adding resources to a system that is producing a disappointing outcome. At some point, we must acknowledge that doing more of the same will not deliver different results.

We need to look beyond traditional approaches. We need a systemic redesign that incorporates behavioural science and real-world insights into how people learn, work and persevere.

Richard Lyall is president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). He has represented the building industry in Ontario since 1991. Contact him at media@rescon.com.