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What are the benefits of apprenticeship training for an employer? Can a financial return be calculated? Does the investment support an employer's bottom line? These are the main research questions that prompted the CAF-FCA to complete this study. To answer these questions CAF-FCA asked almost 1,000 employers in 16 different trades in a variety of sectors to fill in a survey on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training. The results show that there is a positive return for those employers that invest in apprenticeship training. The overall objectives of this research were: to determine the overall costs incurred by employers in hiring and training apprentices using the same methodology used in 2006 for 10 trades included in the 2006 pilot study as well as six additional trades; to build on the dataset developed in 2006 by surveying a sample of employers who participated in the 2006 pilot study to update their data; and to examine reasons why employers do not employ apprentices by surveying employers who employ journeypersons in the 16 trades of interest for the current study, but who have not hired an apprentice in the past three years.

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This report forms part of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum-Forum Canadien sur l’apprentissage’s Return on Training Investment project, a multi-phased research project funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada. This phase of the project examines the current Canadian literature on post-secondary labour-market outcomes. Its purpose is threefold: (1) to explore the prospects for measuring apprenticeship outcomes from a pan-Canadian perspective; (2) to provide researchers with an up-to-date overview of the existing sources linked to this area of research; and (3) to propose methods for measuring post-secondary outcomes in order to better understand returns on training investments for apprentices. This study suggests that the objective of measuring apprenticeship outcomes can be best achieved by adopting a holistic approach that combines elements of the National Apprenticeship Survey, the National Graduates Survey, and selected provincial and territorial studies. At the same time, it reveals that there are some gaps in the existing literature - most notably in Central Canada and the Maritimes - that should be filled by additional studies. Collectively, these efforts will provide policy-makers, prospective apprentices, and other stakeholders with better information for making decisions about their training investments.

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This report aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the return on apprenticeship training investment to employers. It is the result of an assessment of the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training commissioned by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum - Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF-FCA) and undertaken by R. A. Malatest & Associates and The Conference Board of Canada. The results indicate that employers across the 15 trade areas receive a net benefit from apprenticeship training. Although the cost of apprenticeship is often perceived as a barrier, it is apparent that the monetary benefits generated by apprentices outweigh the training costs. In addition, employers indicated that there are important qualitative or non-monetary benefits associated with apprenticeship training. Show less