As Millions of Skilled Trades Workers Near Retirement in North America, Manja Horner Calls for Knowledge Transfer Reset

Manja Horner, Author of Pass The Torch

Pass the Torch - A Rallying Call to Rescue the Future of Trades by Manja Horner

A new book outlines practical steps to capture retiring expertise, strengthen leadership, and close the skilled trades workforce gap.

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, February 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- North America’s skilled trades sector is facing a turning point.

Roughly one in five skilled trades workers is over the age of 55. In the United States, projections suggest millions of skilled roles could go unfilled by 2033. In Canada, an estimated 700,000 tradespeople are expected to retire in the coming years.

Recruitment efforts are improving. Apprenticeship enrollment in Canada has more than doubled since the mid-1990s. But completion rates remain inconsistent, and many employers say the immediate skills gap persists.

Manja Horner, a third-generation tradesperson and founder of Boost Learning Development, believes the industry is focusing too narrowly on hiring - and not enough on what happens after.

“If an organization cannot teach what it knows, it cannot protect what it has built,” Horner said. “The workforce gap is also a knowledge transfer gap.”

Her upcoming book, Pass the Torch: A Rallying Call to Rescue the Future of Trades, scheduled for release in March 2026, argues that the real risk is expertise walking off the jobsite undocumented and no plan to transfer the knowledge through training.

“Legacy in trades is not what you know. It’s what you pass on,” Horner said.

Construction accounts for approximately 7% of Canada’s GDP and employs more than 1.6 million people. At the same time, aging infrastructure, housing demand, and industrial expansion continue to increase pressure on the sector.

Yet many trades businesses still rely on informal, on-the-job training methods built around ad-hoc experience rather than documentation and deliberate skill practice.

The book outlines a practical framework for:
- Capturing critical expertise before retirement
- Converting mastery into teachable systems
- Implementing structured senior leader communication training for skilled trades to strengthen frontline supervision and retention
- Improving onboarding and retention
- Creating workplaces that attract and retain the next generation

By 2030, Millennials and Gen Z are projected to make up the majority of the workforce. Expectations around leadership, communication, and career growth are shifting, and companies that adapt may have a competitive advantage.

“The next decade will reward leaders who invest in people as seriously as they invest in equipment,” Horner said.

Additional information about the framework addressing the skilled trades workforce gap can be found at: www.passthetorchbook.com

Pass the Torch is published by Entourage Media and will be available March 2026.

Manja R Horner
11845055 Canada Inc. o/a Boost LD
+1 905-925-6417
email us here

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