Alberta government invests $15 million in apprenticeship training 

Alberta is seeing a rise in demand for skilled workers, and the province is investing in a new grant program to help new trade workers enter the industry through unions.

“To create a brand-new, first-of-its-kind union apprenticeship grant program,” said Rajan Sawhney, Alberta’s Advanced Education Minister.

The $15 million in provincial funding will increase the number of training seats by about 650.

This is good news for third-year welding apprentice Lorenzo Memnook, who says limited spaces make it competitive to get into programs.

“This will probably allow more apprentices in our classrooms. I got lucky in my first year— they made an extra spot just so I could be in the program,” said Memnook.

Alberta is now looking for proposals from unions. The funding, part of Budget 2025, will be assessed based on demand.

“Right now, we don’t have enough electricians and welders, so that will be the priority, and we’ll send out more information,” said Sawhney. “We’ll have an interactive session between our department and all the unions interested in applying for this grant to explain more about the criteria. Labour market demand is one of the key factors.”

For Memnook, he wishes this program had been available when he entered the industry, and now hopes it will entice more Albertans to pursue skilled trades.

“If this had come out a little earlier, it would have been awesome—because even I had a hard time getting into the skilled trades,” said Memnook.

Since the funding will be provided over three years, the ministry will cap the amount at $5 million per year.