On March 21, our federal government and the provincial government signed a deal to bring the Canada Jobs Grant to Alberta.
This is great news for job seekers, who will have better access to training that leads to real, guaranteed jobs. It is also good news for Alberta’s economy, because the Canada Job Grant will help employers train the modern workforce needed to help their businesses grow and succeed.
In recent years, the west has been Canada’s economic engine, leading the nation in job creation and growth, with Alberta playing a leading role.
At the same time, labour experts have been warning about the potential negative economic impacts of a looming skilled labour shortage. Here in Alberta the job vacancy rate has jumped from 2.9 per cent in 2009 to 6.1 per cent in 2013. Statistics tell us this is largely due to high demand for skilled trades and science-based occupations.
In fact, in November 2013 there were approximately 220,000 job vacancies in Canada, with about 25 per cent of these vacancies here in Alberta.
Clearly, if our country is to lay a foundation for long-term prosperity, addressing this labour shortage must continue to be a top priority.
Our government has a number of initiatives underway to address this issue, for instance we provide post-secondary education loans and grants; encourage careers in the skilled trades through apprenticeship grants; and help older workers return to employment.
The Canada Job Grant is a vital next step. What makes this program unique is that it involves employers in training decisions so that workers will be equipped with the skills and training they need to fill available jobs. The grant provides up to $15,000 per person for training costs, including tuition and training materials, which includes up to $10,000 in federal contributions. Employers are required to contribute on average one-third of the total costs of training.
At the same time, the Canada Job Grant is designed to be flexible enough to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, in all industries and regions.
This is important; in the next 10 years, Canada is expected to need 319,000 new workers in the construction sector, 145,000 new workers in the mining sector, and 130,000 in the petroleum sector.
The Canada Job Grant meets a key objective: connecting jobs with Canadian workers and workers with Canadian jobs.
For more information about the Canada Job Grant, I encourage you to go to www.actionplan.gc.ca.
