PCA Supporting MPP Garfield Dunlop’s Saving Apprentices’ Jobs Act
MPP Dunlop’s legislation will preserve thousands of apprentices’ jobs.
Toronto (March 4, 2014) –PCA applauds Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop and the PC Party of Ontario for their efforts to support hardworking Ontario tradespeople with the Saving Apprentices’ Jobs Act.
The Bill will save tens of thousands apprenticeship jobs by eliminating the April 8, 2014, College of Trades membership deadline and will also give apprentices more time to pass their journeyperson examination.
“Once again, the College of Trades is demonstrating it is no friend to tradespeople as tens of thousands of apprentices in Ontario have just been informed they will be out of a job in four weeks if they do not pay the trades tax,” says Karen Renkema, PCA Senior Manager – Public Affairs, and chair of the Stop the Trades Campaign.
The College has set a deadline of April 8th for all apprentices to pay the trades tax or they will be ruled ineligible to work in this province. MPP Dunlop’s Bill would eliminate the April 8, 2014, deadline for apprentices to pay the trades tax, ultimately saving their jobs.
“How are we supposed to believe the College can register thousands of apprentices in four mere weeks when they have demonstrated such administrative ineptitude to date?” said Renkema. “The fact is if MPP Dunlop’s Bill is not passed, tens of thousands of apprentices on April 8 will be out of a job.”
Dunlop’s Bill also looks to remedy a second serious issue created by the Ontario College of Trades. Dunlop’s Bill would give fourth-year apprentices more time to successfully complete their journeyperson exam (commonly known as their certificate of qualification exam).
“It is mean-spirited for the government to impose a one-year deadline for tradespeople to complete their journeyperson exam. The Ontario government says it’s in the business of promoting the trades, yet on few, if any, other professions does it impose a one-year limit for completion of accreditation,” said Renkema. “The Ontario government gives lawyers all the time they need to pass the Bar, while telling tradespeople if they don’t pass in one year, their four-year apprenticeship was all for nothing.”