Stakeholder Engagement and Advice to the Board
Alberta’s apprenticeship system is a partnership between employers and industry, government, post-secondary institutions, and individual apprentices .Between June and October 2021, two rounds of engagement activities were conducted with a variety of system partners to support understanding of the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act and to inform development of the regulations. These activities consisted of online surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews and workbook submissions.
A strength of the system is the extensive role of industry and practitioners in contributing to certification standards and the value of applying those standards consistently across the province.
One of the first tasks of the new Alberta Board of Skilled Trades (ABST) is to develop a strategy for industry involvement, including how it will engage with industry to gather input/feedback and leverage expertise.
To support the new ABST in the development of an industry engagement strategy, recommendations are encouraged from industry members on how to best consult with industry. The questions below may be considered when developing recommendations:
- What does meaningful consultation with industry look like?
- What works well with today’s industry engagement mechanisms? What does not work well?
- What future structures of engagement could be implemented to help reflect regional and industry sector representation, ensuring diverse perspectives are considered?
- How can communication and collaboration between Alberta’s apprenticeship system partners be strengthened?
Advice can be submitted to the ABST once it is appointed and the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act comes into force in spring 2022.
If you have any feedback or questions regarding the ABST or the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act, please email us.
