Institute for Apprenticeship, Training and Education Programs

Employment researcher and marketing research expert Dr. Jon Callegher will present a case for the right way to recruit and retain young people to skilled trades careers. The process begins by understanding what today’s Gen Zs and Millennials truly want for their lives. This involves a data-driven exploration of their emotional states, personality traits, core values, habits and behaviours.

The session will address:

• The ways in which men and women need to be marketed to differently and why
• How so-called “university-bound” traits are actually skilled trades traits
• How mindsets among parents toward the trades have changed post-COVID-19
• How and where to advertise the skilled trades to young people
• The critical importance of providing youth with sustained mentorship

This session will survey the legal and legislative landscape for apprenticeship programs in the U.S. Topics include:

• President’s Advisory Council on Apprenticeship
• Future of IRAPs
• EEO regulations
• Immigration.

2022 and 2023 will see a vast number of changes to apprenticeship training programs throughout Canada. This session will cover several new initiatives, including:

• Federal Apprenticeship Service
• Skilled Trades Ontario
• Skilled Trades BC
• Alberta Skilled Trades Act.

This session will help you understand your role as a fiduciary and how that responsibility plays out in running a training trust fund in Canada. Topics include:

• Who a fiduciary is and what fiduciary responsibilities and obligations are
• Legal framework and governance
• The two-hat rule and prohibited transactions
• Common fiduciary challenges for trustees of apprenticeship programs
• Best practices

This session will help you understand the role of a fiduciary and what that means in the oversight of your apprenticeship program. This session will include:

• Who a fiduciary is and what fiduciary responsibilities and obligations are
• Legal framework, governing laws and documents
• The two-hat rule and prohibited transactions
• Common fiduciary challenges for trustees of apprenticeship programs
• Recent and proposed legislation and regulations impacting apprenticeship programs
• Implications for directors, coordinators and instructors
• Best practices.

PJC training was developed by the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute and its partners as a tool for apprentices, journey-level workers, foremen and superintendents. This session will cover:

• Unconscious bias and how this can impact relationships with co-workers
• The impact bullying and hazing can have on a person
• Tools for knowing how to react in these situations
• Barriers that prevent jobsites from functioning at a high level.

Resilience is the process of bouncing back from adversity and continually learning and growing.

Resilience is about preparing for and learning from adversity. Most of life’s problems are not sudden and overt. They are small daily irritations, or triggers, that over time cause strain and exhaustion. Most adverse incidents that occur are preceded by these triggers.

Participants will learn a new system that integrates NWI’s Six Dimensions of Wellness model with the concepts of stress, resilience and thriving. By undertaking a daily practice of self-care, one can begin to serve as a supportive model for others.

This session will feature a case study on the Finishing Trades Institute’s Helping Hands Team and how this program addresses substance abuse and suicide prevention. The audience will also be asked to share examples of their own initiatives so everyone can benefit from each other’s experiences to address these critical issues.

Diverse organizations are welcoming and profitable. Learn how to build a diverse and inclusive program, both in the classroom and on the jobsite, that leverages the talent throughout your stakeholder community. Key areas of discussion include how to:

• Identify, prevent and address discrimination and harassment.
• Understand the legal implications of discrimination, harassment, bullying and hazing
• Recognize unconscious bias and understand how to create a culture of inclusion.

This session will consider many of the exposures to risk for apprenticeship programs, with a focus on:

• Operational risks
• Reputational risks
• Cybersecurity risks
• Developing a process to identify and mitigate potential threats
• Insurance coverage options.

This session will focus on the best practices of finance and operations management for apprenticeship programs. Topics discussed will include the following:

• Strategic planning
• Metrics
• Financials
• Audits
• Internal controls
• Fraud.

This session will focus on the best practices of finance and operations management for apprenticeship programs. Topics discussed will include the following:

• Strategic planning
• Metrics
• Financials
• Audits
• Internal controls
• Fraud.

According to StatsCanada, nearly 85% of organizations in Canada were affected by data breaches in 2021. Apprenticeship programs are not immune to this risk. This session will help you understand the current cybersecurity environment through discussion on a range of topics, including:

• Latest on cybersecurity
• Cyber-liability insurance
• What does a breach look like? How do you recognize it? What do you do?
• Penetration testing, monitoring tools and tests to help avoid cybersecurity fraud
• What to know to fulfill your fiduciary obligations.

Data breaches are too common, and apprenticeship programs are not immune to risk. This session will help you understand the current cybersecurity environment through discussion on a range of topics, including:

• New DOL guidance
• Cyberliability insurance
• What does a breach look like? How do you recognize it? What do you do?
• Penetration testing, monitoring tools and tests to help avoid cybersecurity fraud
• Recent legal decisions involving ERISA plan data breaches
• What to know to fulfill your fiduciary obligations.

This session will feature a panel discussion on reaching out to underrepresented communities and how to drive inclusiveness and equity in your programs.

Occupational training programs should be designed to close the skills gap by effectively preparing learners for work. To do that, the training curriculum must meet the employer’s needs and produce learners who can successfully perform within the occupation. This session will feature an overview of the DACUM system of curriculum development, which includes:

• Occupational analysis
• Identification of the key competencies and skills
• Sequencing skills
• Alignment to successful performance.

Your apprentices have health care needs and perhaps very little experience with an employer-sponsored plan. Their needs will change over time as they become journeyworkers. This session will look at how some apprenticeship programs are engaging their apprentices in health care, including:

• Responding to their current health care needs
• Educating them on their plans
• Delivering messages that matter.

Too many programs only look at how well their training was received (reaction level) and whether apprentices are learning the material initially (learning). Most never check to see how well all the students applied it to the job (behavior) or the financial impact on the organization (results). In this session, Dr. Mark Johnson will use Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Model to help participants learn how to use this model to evaluate (1) initial student learning, (2) training transfer, (3) instructor quality, (4) training program effectiveness, and (5) overall operational efficiency, including return on investment and financial impact on the organization.

This session will feature a look at how preapprenticeship programs can serve as an effective recruitment and readiness tool. Two programs will be highlighted, and the audience will also be invited to share their own best practices and experiences as part of the discussion.

This session will focus on technology tools you can use to promote your apprenticeship program. Using a case study approach on how Helmets to Hardhats overhauled their outreach efforts, learn best practices to drive engagement. Topics include:

• Website design
• Integrating texting and email
• Messaging
• Metrics and outcomes

An open discussion of Canadian issues that are relevant to training trust funds, this session will provide a forum to address the most pressing issues that trustees, administrators, coordinators, instructors and directors grapple with in the current environment.

An open discussion of U.S. issues that are relevant to training trust funds, this session will provide a forum to address the most pressing issues that trustees, administrators, coordinators, instructors and directors grapple with in the current environment.