Apprentice Mobility in Canada: Lessons From the Atlantic Apprenticeship Harmonization Project

Canadian apprentices and employers often face barriers that prevent them from maximizing the benefits of apprenticeship training. One of the biggest barriers is limited interprovincial mobility for apprentices, which partly results from differences in apprenticeship regulations among Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. The four Atlantic provinces are working to ease apprenticeship mobility restrictions through the Atlantic Apprenticeship Harmonization Project (AAHP). The AAHP seeks to harmonize requirements and standards for 10 trades in the Atlantic provinces within the next three years. The three greatest keys to the AAHP’s success have been the commitment of government leaders, the sustained buy-in and active engagement of stakeholders, and sustained operational funding. Future Canada-wide collaboration to improve apprenticeship training could benefit from adopting a model based on these three keys to success.