Program Development

Each trade identified in the Industry Training Act as being recognized by the provincial government requires that the industry group it represents develops an agreed upon set of standards that define the full scope of the trade and how an individual can demonstrate competency and achieve certification. The standards must also be reviewed from time to time to ensure that they continue to meet the changes and current practices in the industry.

Some trades have a national program standard that participating provinces have agreed upon. Those trades are often referred to as “Red Seal” trades. This means that a red seal endorsement is placed on the provincial certificate which entitles the bearer to work in their trade anywhere in Canada without further examination. In this case, there is a national document called a “National Occupational Analysis” or NOA developed and this document drives the development of the Interprovincial Examination in those trades. Apprentices and challengers must pass this examination in order to receive certification in their trade. NOAs are reviewed and updated every five years.

In any case, the standards for each trade follow a regular pattern of review. CITO has been assigned responsibility for 33 trades. For those that are red seal trades, once the NOA review has been completed, the review of the provincial standards commences. That way, CITO can ensure that any new training requirements or changes that the national organization has identified are included in the provincial review and apprentices can properly prepare to write the interprovincial examination. Other provincial trades follow a five year review cycle. The table below gives an indication of where CITO is at with each of its trades and when the review of the trade can be scheduled.

When CITO reviews a trade, a trade committee is organized to oversee the work that is to be done. This committee is made up of contractors who are actively involved in the trade and hire and train apprentices. Regional representation is considered when forming trade committees by including contractors from more than one region of the province and representation from the unionized sector as well as the open shop sector of the industry is also included. The committee identifies Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who work with CITO staff to develop and/or update the various documents that are required as part of the review process by the ITA. Each review project takes 4-6 months from start to finish with many people working on it at various points in the process.