A fund aimed at building the labour force for high-demand sectors is a piece of the federal government’s $8-billion Team Canada Strong plan.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor), praised the plan during a visit to Klimit Mechanical last Friday. She said the funding is in place because major projects across the country that will strengthen Canada’s economy, diversify trade, and create good jobs will require a skilled workforce ready to meet growing demand.
“Affordability has been important, and it’s generating demand for businesses and for professionals that service those businesses, and today we’re launching a new Sectoral Workforce Innovation Fund (SWIF), which is one way to support recruitment and training,” she said. “We’re investing $258.6 million over five years, and then $50 million after that; and what’s really exciting about this fund is it’s very specific to working in partnership with industry and with businesses.”
She added that it’s about supporting great ideas and industry-led projects that would help accelerate the recruitment and the retention of people in high-demand sectors.
“It’s going to help employers find the talent they need. It’s also going to help Canadians get access to the training and the great-paying jobs that often are represented in the trades,” she said, adding that the call for proposals is now open, so organizations can submit project ideas at any time.
Hajdu says part of the plan for Team Canada Strong is to not only support individuals to get into the trades, but also to stay in the trades and to support companies just like Klimit Mechanical with a rebate for hiring a first-year apprentice.
“That can often be one of the biggest barriers if someone graduates from a college program,” she said. “They have a fundamental course, and they don’t have an actual apprenticeship where you need to actually take that next step of accumulating hours.”
Hajdu added that the relationship that the college has to have with industry is also very important because part of Team Canada Strong is that $2 billion of that $8 billion is going to provinces and territories to help with building out seats and programs in colleges.
“We’re trying to make sure that no matter where a person wants to train, there is a door for them,” she said.
Organizations interested in applying for funding through the SWIF are encouraged to visit Canada.ca for information on eligibility requirements and the application process.
