Government introduces three-year Skills to Jobs Action Plan
The centrepiece of Ontario’s 2008 budget is the investment of $1.5 billion over three years in a Skills to Jobs Action Plan.
“The plan will train unemployed workers for new careers, expand apprenticeships, build more spaces in colleges and universities and help students with education costs,” said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan in his budget speech yesterday. “Some 20,000 unemployed workers will get long-term training that launches them into new, well-paying careers through our $355-million Second Career Strategy.”
Many high-growth industries — such as information technology, construction, energy and health care — face a shortage of people with the right skills, so the challenge is to ensure workers with the right skills are available when growing industries need them, said the government, while also giving unemployed workers the retraining they need to get well-paying jobs in expanding areas of the economy.
That means investing: $560 million to support new skills for new careers; $465 million to expand postsecondary student aid and programs; and $970 million to build places to learn.
The new Second Career Strategy of $355 million aims to help unemployed workers make the transition to new careers and well-paying jobs in growing areas of the economy. It will offer one- or two-year skills training courses, related needs-based income supports and career planning services and hopefully help 20,000 unemployed workers who commit to a long-term training plan, said the government.
The budget also includes an investment of $75 million over the next three years, rising to $50 million annually by 2011–12, to further expand the number of Ontario apprentices. This will increase the supply of workers in critical trades facing shortages or high retirement rates in industries such as construction and mining. The new funding will support classroom training, expand pre-apprenticeship programs that prepare young people for their training and increase program completions.
And for newcomers, Ontario is now spending about $160 million each year to help newcomers settle in their new home, improve their language skills and find jobs through training programs that bridge their credentials into Ontario qualifications. There is also almost $30 million more to enhance English as a Second Language (ESL) services for adult newcomers and support more bridge training.
