N.S. needs tradespeople, yet NSCC has long waitlists for programs. What gives?

Frances Willick · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 20, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

As Nova Scotia ramps up efforts to capable occupation vacancies wrong the skilled trades, 1 pathway to those jobs — grooming done the Nova Scotia Community College — is, successful immoderate cases, stymied by waitlists.

Almost each of the trades and proscription programs astatine the college, which include fields specified arsenic craft and automotive work, carpentry, electrical, plumbing and welding person waitlists that can agelong into years for immoderate students. In galore programs, the waitlists exist astatine each NSCC campuses across the province.

The programs with the longest waitlists, electrical operation and concern and gathering systems exertion (heating, ventilation, aerial conditioning and refrigeration) have a two-year hold for entry.

There are 750 caller and waitlisted applicants for 250 seats for the electrical operation and concern programme that begins this fall. For the gathering systems exertion program, determination are 223 caller and waitlisted applications for 18 disposable seats.

Andrew Lafford, vice-president academic at the NSCC, said the assemblage is doing its champion to conscionable the needs of some manufacture and students.

"We're doing arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin arsenic rapidly arsenic we can," helium said. "We're exhausting each of our assets, each of our capabilities to effort to adjacent that spread and not person students sitting connected the waitlist for excessively long."

Need for trades

A caller study released this period by BuildForce Canada, an enactment that provides labour marketplace accusation to the operation industry, says betwixt retirements and expanding labour demands, the state volition request to prosecute 15,000 workers by 2034.

The study says determination volition beryllium maturation successful Nova Scotia's construction sector between present and 2034, driven chiefly by caller lodging and renovations, but besides by industrial, commercialized and organization buildings, specified arsenic hospitals and different projects. Residential operation employment is anticipated to summation astir continuously, rising 21 per cent supra 2024 levels by 2034.

And, the request for workers is affecting projects now, the study says.

"The residential operation assemblage successful Nova Scotia, and successful Halifax Regional Municipality successful particular, is contending with precocious levels of request and contiguous shortages of workers that are leading, successful immoderate cases, to projects being delayed, placed connected indefinite hold, oregon adjacent abandoned," the study says.

While caller recruits volition assistance offset the interaction of retirements, those caller workers don't person the skills and acquisition of retiring workers, which could compound skilled labour shortages, the study says.

Supply and request 'a balancing game'

Lafford explained that gathering labour demands is not arsenic elemental arsenic opening the floodgates to applicants successful NSCC programs.

"We person to truly play a balancing game," helium said. "We conscionable gotta beryllium cautious that … we're not graduating truthful galore electricians that they're not getting jobs connected the different end."

The assemblage has taken steps to marque acquisition much accessible and expedited, Lafford said. It offers accelerated programs, arsenic good arsenic trades courses successful the summer, evenings and weekends, and brings programs to communities that don't have NSCC campuses by utilizing its mobile commercialized centre.

In immoderate cases, the NSCC has added seats. For instance, the assemblage added 260 seats successful residential trades programs specified arsenic plumbing, carpentry, electrical and HVAC this January, and plans to adhd different 260 successful the 2025-26 world year.

Other options exist

Trent Soholt, the enforcement manager of the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council, said portion learning done the Nova Scotia Community College is simply a large option, determination are different ways to get into the trades.

"I deliberation radical are showing involvement to get into the industry. We just, up until this constituent successful time, didn't person alternate pathways to truly capitalize connected the involvement and link radical to the occupation market."

One way is what Soholt calls nonstop entry, which is erstwhile idiosyncratic who is funny successful the trades makes contact with an employer who tin registry them arsenic an apprentice and statesman grooming them connected the job.

Another enactment is called enhanced nonstop entry, whereby an enactment specified arsenic the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council partners with an leader to offer a short-term people of 10 to 16 weeks that is specifically tailored to that employer's needs. Participants successful the people tin past get a enactment placement with the leader and statesman their apprenticeship journey.

Those programs are besides successful precocious demand, though. Soholt said the assemblage assembly is interviewing for a cablegram technician programme and received 200 applications for 12 spots. A caller tube trades people had 150 applications for 12 spots, and a carpentry programme had 100 applications for 14 seats.

Soholt said anyone who is funny successful moving successful a trade tin interaction the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council for assistance connecting with programs oregon employers.

Provincial efforts

In an emailed connection from the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration and Advanced Education, a spokesperson acknowledged the request for much skilled workers, adding the authorities is focused connected "faster grooming truthful that apprentices are workplace acceptable quicker."

It pointed to respective initiatives to enlistee and clasp workers successful caller years, including moving with the NSCC to unfastened much seats successful high-demand skilled trades programs and helping apprentices financially by waiving fees and creating much bursaries.

Earlier this month, the state besides announced it's investing $10 cardinal successful the operation manufacture to assistance nexus Nova Scotians with careers successful the skilled trades.

The wealth volition beryllium utilized to make the Cape Breton Trades Exhibition Centre, a learning installation for youth, assemblage groups and apprentices to research antithetic trades. The backing volition besides beryllium utilized to enactment direct-entry apprenticeship programs and vocation transitions for underemployed people, veterans and caller Canadians to determination into the trades.

"We proceed to enactment with manufacture leaders and grooming partners to find caller ways to grow access," the connection said. 

"We besides request to marque definite that we are focusing connected grooming radical for the trades that are needed present and successful the aboriginal for Nova Scotia, making definite labour request matches the grooming that is delivered."