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TORONTO — A recent Leger survey commissioned by Classic Fire + Life Safety on the perceptions of Canadians towards the skilled trades offers some enlightening findings.

Conducted this fall, the Measuring Up The Trades study reveals 40 per cent of Canadians have considered a career in skilled trades, yet only 13 per cent currently work in the field.

Approximately 52 per cent think more highly of the trades now than they did a few years ago, while 80 per cent believe there are more options for employment than before.

Forty-two per cent surveyed would choose the skilled trades as a career if they could turn back the clock, and 78 per cent would encourage their children or others to consider a trade.

The study also reveals the gap in perceptions versus reality is narrowing.

Sixty-two per cent of Canadians say they believe the pay is good. Forty-seven per cent express a belief that skilled trades jobs are stable and 45 per cent believe it provides opportunity for small business development.

Classic Fire + Life Safety, the funder of the study, plans to commission this research on a regular basis to help both the company and the industry address the workforce

shortages needed to meet rising demand, explains a release.

In addition to the study, the company also partnered with Honour the Work, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting careers in the skilled trades, earlier this year.

“Canadians are realizing that these careers are not only in high demand, but also financially lucrative and directly correlated to our collective wellbeing through areas such as housing, clean energy and public infrastructure,” says Angela Coldwell, founder of Honour the Work, in a statement. “Educators, for their part, are starting to introduce the skilled trades at an earlier stage, peaking of course at high school. The old thinking was that post-secondary education meant attending college or university. But that’s not the whole picture. Apprenticeship is a growing third form of post-secondary education leading to great STEAM careers for Canadians who learn and work their head and hands, simultaneously.”

As part of its own efforts, Classic Fire + Life Safety has participated in more than a dozen career fairs at schools like Seneca College and Fanshaw College, as well as local municipality fairs.

The fire safety company runs recruitment, internships and co-op programs in partnerships with these colleges and others and intends to grow these programs on an annual basis to help fuel its growth plans, the release continues.

To see the complete findings of the survey visit .