Q & A with Mike Holmes of ‘Holmes on Homes’

With a hit, award winning TV show “Holmes on Homes” under his tool belt, Mike Holmes has risen in popularity in the world of trades and home renovations in the past few years. Holmes now has a growing fan-base of home renovators and home renovator wannabes sparking more interests in trades as a career option for both young and old! On April 26, 2006, The Holmes Foundation was launched to support the training of youth in the skilled trades, through apprenticeships, scholarships and bursaries. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Mike Holmes on his experience and thoughts on a career in the trades.

Mike Holmes with 2006 Wage Gap Scholarship recipient Stephanie Mann.

Q & A

Q1: How did you become interested in the trades? What or who influenced you?

My father was my first and largest influence in two different ways. First, he was the person who gave me my earliest lessons in renovation. I have always been interested in how things work. As a very young child I loved watching my dad do repairs around our house. Whenever he was working on the house I was right there beside him, wanting to learn. When I was six I rewired the whole house under his supervision. So he taught me a lot about construction. But more importantly, he taught me that if I was going to do something, I should do it right the first time. That is the most important lesson he taught me and I live by it to this day.

Q2: What is your job and what do you do on any given day?

I am a general contractor working in the residential construction. One of the great things about being a contractor is that there is no typical day. On some jobs I work indoors and on some jobs I work mostly outside. Sometimes I work an 8 hour day but the hours can often be longer, especially in the summer. But what changes the most each day is the work. I do, or supervise, a lot of different things, including: (a) preparing cost estimates for clients; (b) reading and interpreting blueprints, drawings and sketches; (c) building foundations; (d) installing floor beams; (e) laying sub-flooring; (f) installing walls and roofing systems (g) fitting and installing trim, doors, stairs, moulding and hardware; (h) measuring, cutting and joining materials made of wood or wood substitutes; and (i) repairing and renovating wooden structures.

Q3: As a tradesperson, what is the biggest challenge you are faced with?

The biggest challenge I face is trying to help all the people who write to me for help. Every month thousands of Canadians write me and tell me about renovation horror stories. I wish I could help everyone who writes me by doing the repairs they need but I can’t; there are just too many people who have been ripped off by incompetent or fraudulent contractors. What I can do is try to prevent these horror stories from continuing to occur. If Canada had enough good contractors, men and women committed to making it right, we wouldn’t have all these renovation nightmares. But Canada does not have enough qualified contractors. So through The Holmes Foundation I try to encourage Canadian students to consider a career in the trades and encourage them to do it right. If you are going to be a trades person, take pride in it and do it right. Learn your trade well, don’t take shortcuts and continue to try to learn about new products and techniques throughout your career.

Q4: Why do you think it’s important for more women to pursue a career in trades?

Lots of reasons. Women would benefit and so would Canada if more women entered the trades.

Women are very under-represented in most trades. I would love to see that change. Working in the trades is creative, lucrative and rewarding. If women don’t enter the trades, they are missing out on the chance to have a great career. Unfortunately many people still think that being a trades person means that you will be doing hard labour your whole life. That simply isn’t true. First, technology has revolutionized many trades, making them less labour intensive. Second, an experienced trades person has many potential career paths. For example, he or she can work for themselves, work for a company, teach their skills to others or move into management. Those are just some of the options. So I wish more women would consider the trades as an option.

Canada would also benefit if more women entered the trades. Canada is facing a serious shortage of skilled workers and the shortage is going to get worse as the baby boomers retire. This shortage will hurt Canada’s economy. People already have trouble finding good contractors to do their renovations. Imagine what it will be like if we don’t have enough qualified people to build roads, hospitals, schools. If more women started entering the trades, the shortage would be less severe.

Q5: What can employers/business do to encourage more people to go into and stay in the trades?

More employers have to hire young people and train them. Every week I get emails from kids who want to get into a trade but can’t find an apprenticeship. Lots of Canadian employers who are qualified to train apprentices don’t bother to do so. I think the statistics are that only 18% of qualified Canadian employers have an apprentice. That has to change.

It seems that a lot of employers think it is a burden to have an apprentice. They think they lose money because they have to pay the apprentice and because training the apprentice may slow down productivity. In fact, employers benefit in lots of ways from taking on an apprentice. First, I have always found teaching is a two-way street. You keep your own skills sharp by teaching them to young people and sometimes young people know about new products or techniques you may not have heard of yet. Apprentices have a real advantage this way because they go to school for a few weeks in every year of their apprenticeship. Second - and this is very important for employers to understand – research demonstrates pretty clearly that employers don’t lose money from their apprentices, they make a profit. The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum published a study last year called Return on Training Investment that shows that for each $1.00 invested in training an apprentice, an employer receives a net benefit of $1.38. This is an important study and employers across Canada should read it.

Q6: What do you love most about your job?

I love being in construction and I have had many rewarding experiences. Helping families improve their homes is one of the most rewarding parts of my job.

Q7: What would you tell parents who are reluctant in having their son or daughter pursue a career in the trades?

I think I’ve said it already. Being a trades person can be creative, rewarding and lucrative. It does not mean you will be doing heavy labour; there are many interesting career paths within the trades. Finally, because Canada is facing a shortage of trades people, if your child chooses the right trade, they will probably have steady employment for their entire life.

Q8: What advice would you give to a youth who is considering pursuing a career in the trades?

Two pieces of advice. First, I always say “Learn the why and the how will follow”. When you’re studying to become a skilled worker, don’t just learn how to do things, make sure you understand why you are doing it. To do it right, you need to understand the “why” and the why will teach you the “how”. Second, I always say “Do what you love and the money will follow”. Don’t focus primarily on how much you earn. Instead focus on doing something you enjoy and do it well. If you do that, you will earn good money.

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