Minister Kenney praised Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) efforts in 2014 to support job creation through a variety of programs and initiatives. In 2014 ESDC supported employment in Canada with:
- Canada Job Grant – each province and territory delivers their own variant of the Canada Job Grant to support training with up to $10,000 in grant funding per trainee.
- A complete overhaul of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
- The New Canada Apprentice Loan offering up to $4,000 interest-free per period of Red Seal technical training to support apprentices during their training.
- Harmonizing apprenticeship requirements in six new trades across the Atlantic provinces with over $4.3M in funding.
- Improving the Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities to improve employment prospects for Canadians with disabilities.
- Renewing and expanding the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers Initiative to assist older workers develop skills to fill vacant jobs.
- In September ESDC surpassed 500,000 apprenticeship grants issued.
Outlook for 2015:
ESDC already has several programs and tools in place to support job creation in 2015 including:
- The Career Choice tool to provide better information on the benefits of working in various occupations and to help promote good careers in high-demand fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, skilled trades)
- The job Match Service will help connect unemployed Canadians with local employers who are seeking workers with their skill set.
“Our Government remains focused on what matter to Canadians: creating jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians. Our Jobs Agenda will help fix the paradox of too many people without jobs and too many jobs without people”
-Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development/Multiculturalism
Leverage Small Business Government Grants to assist with Growth
You can plan your employee growth in 2015 and take advantage of government funding to support your growth. There are a variety of programs to support hiring and employee training. Programs have a variety of focus areas, including high demand industries, high demand skill sets, and high demand demographic groups. Grants can be used to cover a percentage of wages of new hires for up to 12 months. Business can also leverage funding to support training initiatives with up to $10,000 in support per employee. Fill out the free Wage Subsidy Identifier to determine the hiring grants available for your upcoming hires.