Ottawa opens up $430M for skilled trades training

CRAIG LORD

OTTAWA — The federal government plans to spend $430 million over the next five years to help unions train the next generation of skilled trades workers in the country.

Jasraj Hallman, secretary of state for labour, announced Thursday that Ottawa is injecting the new funding, which comes from an expansion to the Union Training and Innovation Program launched in 2017.

The federal government says in a news release that unions and training organizations will be able to use the capital to expand their facilities and other infrastructure. Expressions of interest open for shovel-ready projects that can begin next spring.

The government is also focusing on increasing the diversity of the cost of equipment for training and is temporarily boosting the share it covers to 70 per cent, up from 50 per cent.

A third application stream will fund “unions’ proposals for innovative ways to recruit and retain apprentices, through the pre-apprenticeship or apprentice ship process. Organizations with pitches can submit a proposal to the government.

Nearly half of Thursday’s funding announcement is accounted for in a $198-million federal pledge to create more than 20,000 new skilled trades opportunities over the next five years. The Labour Mobility Fund, which pursues trades across the past year as it aims an ambitious infrastructure agenda.

Zerehi said in a media statement that the fund will help build homes, infrastructure and major projects to boost the economy. “That’s why we’re investing in apprenticeships and new approaches to training, giving more Canadians the opportunity to build Canada’s future,” he said.