Canada's going all in on the trades. In October, the Canadian government announced a $430 million investment to train and recruit workers in the skilled trades. The money will go towards expanding training infrastructure, purchasing training equipment, and attracting new talent – including a $5,000 bonus for those who complete training. The investment is part of the broader Team Canada Strong initiative announced in April, which aims to recruit between 80,000 and 100,000 skilled trades workers over the next five years. The whole project will cost the federal government about $8 billion.
All that money indicates that the sector is struggling to recruit young talent. Indeed, between 2016 and 2021, the number of tradespeople employed in Canada fell 5.7%; in that same timeframe, the number of youth in the trades tanked 12.2%. Yet the demand for tradespeople remains very high, and the government hopes that a big cash injection will bolster the industry.
But why are young people avoiding the trades in the first place? And can government investment actually fix the problem?
It’s not clear that money is the actual problem here. While it’s true that many of the highest earning fields, like law and medicine, require university degrees, tradespeople can handily outearn many university grads.
As of 2020, the median salary for Canadians who’ve done apprenticeships in industrial equipment maintenance was $80,000 – that's more than the median salary for those with master’s degrees in a number of fields, including education ($76,000), astrophysics ($64,000), economics ($60,000), psychology ($52,200), and marketing ($50,000). At the median, HVAC mechanics in Canada make the equivalent of $37.50 per hour, and elevator mechanics make $45 even. We can compare that with journalists – they generally hold bachelor’s degrees and sometimes even have master’s degrees, but earn the equivalent of $36.92 per hour. (Do we think I made the right career choice?)
Plus, the cost of education in the trades tends to be much lower, and apprenticeships are often paid – so, while many Canadians graduate university with student debt to pay off, tradespeople may take on a lower financial burden. Even before the federal government introduced the $5,000 bonus, the financial incentives to enter the trades were already there.
Part of the problem with attracting young people into the trades is the narrative: many still associate success with a university degree.
Part of the problem with attracting young people into the trades is the narrative: many still associate success with a university degree. As CIBC reported earlier this year, “enrolment in post-secondary education continues to outstrip vocational education by a wide margin.” There's still some stigma around entering the trades, and university degrees are often perceived as higher status – even as job vacancies for new grads dwindle and AI fuels fears about the future of white collar work.
Stereotypes about the trades also keep some demographics away. As of 2021, women comprised just 14.8% of Canada’s Red Seal trades workforce; when you exclude cooks, bakers, and hairstylists, that number drops to 5.2%. A recent study from TMU’s Diversity Institute found that societal stereotypes and common media narratives play a major role in “discourag[ing] exploration long before career decisions are made.” It also concluded that “girls have fewer role models in technical fields, are less likely to receive encouragement from career counsellors, and often encounter skepticism about the viability of careers in the trades.” These are deeply rooted societal problems, not just financial ones.
Then there’s the Carney government’s effort to curtail immigration over the last year, which has hit some provinces more than others. New Brunswick’s population has been shrinking since summer 2025, and its demand for tradespeople has never been higher – and it’s much harder to recruit into the sector when the potential talent pool is shrinking. Earlier this year, John-Ryan Morrison, the executive director of Construction Association New Brunswick, told the CBC: “Even if every high school student that graduated in 2026 went into the trades, it still wouldn’t be enough.” If there aren’t enough young people in the province, then, well, there just aren’t enough young people in the province.
This isn’t to say that more money won’t help; the CBC reported earlier this year that many apprentices struggle with the financial pressures of training, particularly during in-class portions. The government addressed this directly, proposing $400-per-week grants for apprentices during in-class periods.
Even with less concrete barriers, like stigma and gender stereotypes, increased financial incentives might help to counteract them – and it seems like things are already starting to shift. A TMU study from last year found that Canadians are twice as likely to suggest that young people pursue trades training than a general university degree. Another study, conducted in August by education savings company Embark, found that trade schools and apprenticeships are now seen as the No. 1 way children should prepare for careers in 2050 – beating out universities by 13%. And south of the border, women are reportedly entering the trades in larger numbers; the Wall Street Journal recently spoke to one American trade school that has seen its share of female students quadruple in the last five years.
So yes, youth unemployment is up and AI anxiety is everywhere, but somewhere amidst all that simmering panic, there’s an opening for the trades. With the new $430 million in government investment as incentive, the trades may soon be back in style.
