Manitoba to return to original apprentice-to-journeyperson construction ratio

The province says it’s returning to a system that includes more supervision on construction sites, out of concerns for workplace safety.

Manitoba’s apprentice-to-journeyperson ratio was set to 1-to-1 after the death of worker Michael Skanderberg, who was killed on the job in 1999 while working unsupervised.

The province’s previous Progressive Conservative government changed the ratio to 2-to-1 in 2020, but the current administration is reversing it to the original regulation.

Economic Development Minister Jamie Moses said Wednesday that there will be exceptions.

“In remote areas, there might be challenges with the number of journeypeople,” Moses said.

“We can look at those on a case-by-case basis, but we’ll make sure that of course the primary focus will be on continuing to have that high level of safety.”

Unions are applauding the province’s announcement of the changes, which are set to come into effect next week.

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IBEW 2085’s Dave McPhail said the lower ratio not only led to some dangerous situations, but also cost experienced people work.

“Some contractors stack their crews with double the apprentices, leaving the qualified skilled people waiting for jobs,” he said.

“The only logical reason for having more apprentices than Red Seals is for cost savings.”

McPhail says there’s been a 30 per cent drop in people getting their Red Seals since the 2-to-1 supervision was brought in four years ago.

Tanya Palson of Manitoba Building Trades says the legislation will help with both safety and outcomes.

“Being an apprentice is not the job — being a Red Seal journeyperson is the job, and we saw the 2-1 ratio really damage the outcomes on completions.”

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