UFCW Canada’s webCampus continues to break barriers with a new, free, and fully-online pre-apprenticeship program for members interested in becoming certified Butchers.

Butcher, or meat cutter, is currently recognized as a skilled trade by four Canadian provinces – B.C., Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec – and this new webCampus program reflects the theory standards that one must meet in order to become a Certified Journeyperson.

As Canada’s voice of food workers, the new pre-apprenticeship program is part of the union’s commitment to assisting members further develop their skills and credentials as food professionals. In the coming months, webCampus will be launching further pre-apprenticeship programs for a number of certified service and industrial trades.

UFCW Canada is currently in conversation with governmental trade authorities to have the union’s online pre-apprenticeship programs fully recognized as theory credits towards to the achievement of Journeyperson status.

A recent poll by UFCW Canada confirmed that members have a strong interest in pursuing the certified service trades. In fact, more than 80 percent of survey participants said that they would be interested in union apprenticeship programs if made available, and 60 percent selected Butcher as their top pick.

Canadian labour market data projects a 5 to 7 percent growth rate for Retail Butcher, demonstrating healthy demand for the future. Plus, the meat industry has many different branches and career opportunities, including Meat Manager, Industrial Butcher, Meat Buyer, Charcuterie Maker, Chef, and small business owner, to name a few.

Find out more about the new Butcher pre-apprenticeship program, visit webCampus today!

The program is currently available in English only.