Youth apprentice engagement in Ontario: what can be learned from Switzerland’s vocational education and training (VET) system?

Canadian apprenticeship models do not effectively match young people to employment opportunities. The Government of Ontario identified the problem in the 2019 Budget that more apprenticeship initiatives need to encourage young people to join the skilled trades industry because of a high demand (Department of Finance Canada 2019, 46). In contrast, Switzerland's apprenticeship model is considered a best practice because of its success in keeping youth unemployment and student debt low (Embassy of Switzerland 2019). The purpose of this report is to explore whether the Switzerland

apprenticeship model would be a best practice for Ontario. This comparative study collected secondary data undertaking a documentary analysis on the social, political and economic events that occurred in Switzerland and Ontario. The findings in this paper are that the Swiss VET can be used as a best practice to shape other training systems to become more innovative and versatile to economic demands.

Key Words: Dual System, Swiss Vocational Education and Training, Ontario's Apprenticeship