A shortage of skilled trades in Canada has companies turning to foreign workers.

If something doesn't change, CTV's Peter Murphy reports, Canada could be short a million workers in 10 years.

If it weren't for carpenters like Sewdayl Singh, from Guyana, the Millennium woodworking plant in Ajax, Ont. wouldn't have enough workers to function. He got the job after the company's management couldn't fill job positions with Canadians.

A $12-million marketing campaign is the latest push by governments and businesses to avoid a looming shortage.

"Our goal is to encourage young people to look at careers in the trades as a first choice option and to encourage those that influence their decision to look at it as well," Keith Lancastle of Canadian Apprenticeship Forum said.

And earlier this month then-Minister of Human Resources Joe Volpe announced he would establish a five-member apprenticeship advisory committee to consult with stakeholders. The committee is expected to submit its final report by September 2005.

"The Committee members will consult with provinces and territories in full respect of their jurisdiction in apprenticeship," Volpe said in a statement.

"While apprenticeship is well established in Canada, the Government of Canada is interested in how apprenticeship can meet the current and rising demands for skilled, adaptable and mobile trade workers in Canada."

But it won't be an easy sell for Canadian students who have long been taught it's either a university education or unemployment.

Surveys show 80 per cent of Canadian high school students want to go to university.

Cathy Lewis, a licensed millwright, once felt like a failure about not going to university. Now, she loves her job and her $100,000 paycheque.

She says there wouldn't be a shortage of skilled trade workers if more students knew about the opportunities.

A 2003 Scotiabank report said several job sectors -- including positions in construction and information technology fields -- would require more workers through through to 2007.

The report said an aging workforce would open up opportunities for areas such as skilled construction trades, health-care workers and university and college instructors.

With files from CTV's Peter Murphy