Checking the crew list…
Apprentices & new entrants
That’s a real choice on sign-up — no trade required. Tell us what you’ve done (fishing, warehouse, retail, the woods) and we’ll show entry-level jobs, apprentice-friendly employers, and what the road to a Red Seal actually looks like here.
Three ways in
Explorer
No experience, not sure which trade. Your profile lists transferable experience and trades you're curious about; the matcher shows entry-level-welcome jobs and caps nothing.
Start exploringLabourer first
Construction Craft Worker / labourer is itself a designated trade — and the usual first step. Get on a site, get your tickets, see the trades up close, then register as an apprentice.
Labourer jobsRegistered apprentice
Already registered with ATCD? Set “apprentice looking for hours” and your level. Employers who sponsor apprentices filter on exactly that, and hours-friendly jobs score you higher.
Apprentice jobsThe NL apprenticeship path
Administered by the province's Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division (ATCD). You work and earn the whole way through; block training happens at CNA or a private college a few weeks a year.
Register as an apprentice
Find an employer willing to sponsor you (that’s what “apprentices welcome” means on a posting), sign the agreement, and ATCD registers you at Level 1.
Log hours on site
Roughly 1,800 hours per level for most trades. Your employer signs off on the skills in your logbook as you learn them.
Block training, then the level exam
Open now
Employers: sponsoring an apprentice is one checkbox.
Tick “apprentices welcome” on a posting and it scores registered apprentices fairly instead of penalising them on experience. Filter the workforce search by level to find Level 3s and 4s close to their ticket. Free on every plan
Five minutes to a profile. No experience needed to be matched with jobs that say so.
Each level has a few weeks of classroom “block” training. Pass the level exam, and your pay steps up.
Journeyperson and the Red Seal
After Level 4 you write the interprovincial Red Seal exam. Pass it and your ticket is good in every province — and your profile here gets the Red Seal badge.
Block training by level (weeks)
| Trade | Hours | L1 | L2 | L3 | L4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter | 7,200 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Construction Electrician | 7,200 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Plumber | 7,200 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
Current ATCD plans of training. Other trades differ — check the trade profile on gov.nl.ca/atcd.
Typical apprentice wage ladder
Paid as a share of the journeyperson rate at your workplace (or the collective agreement).
Level 1
55%
Level 2
65%
Level 3
75%
Level 4
85%
Example: a carpenter journeyperson at $32/hr puts a Level 1 apprentice around $18/hr.