BC – The Province of British Columbia now has $9.6 million in Canada-BC Job Grant funding available to help employers provide skills training to current or new employees.
Employers and organizations acting on behalf of employers can apply now for skills training funding with start dates between Oct. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2016.
Allocation of the total $9.6-million investment is as follows:
$5.6 million in funding is available to eligible employers and organizations under the Priority Sectors stream, which includes:
- Small Business, Technology and Green Economy, Construction, Manufacturing, Mining and Energy, Agrifoods, Tourism, Transportation, Forestry, Natural Gas, Aboriginal Peoples and First Nations, In-Demand Organizations (i.e., non-profit health and social services)
$1 million is available to eligible employers and organizations to train individuals within the Under-represented Groups stream, which includes:
- New Canadians, Aboriginal Peoples, Persons with Disabilities, Youth (aged 15-24 years), Women (in Trades and Natural Resource Sectors)
$2 million is available for eligible employers wishing to train and hire unemployed British Columbians under the Unemployed stream:
- Up to $15,000 for eligible training, per participant
- No employer contribution required
$1 million is available under the Refugee Fund:
- To support eligible organizations acting on behalf of employers to prepare refugees for employment in their particular sector, match refugees to employers and jobs, and deliver job-specific skills training in partnership with employers.
- The Refugee Fund supports two types of training:
- Job readiness
- Job-specific skills training
The Canada-B.C. Job Grant is an employer-driven, cost-sharing partnership between the federal and provincial governments as well as employers. Governments provide two-thirds of the total training cost for an employee up to $10,000 per person to offset the cost of training, with the employer contributing one-third of the cost of training. Eligible costs include tuition and training fees, mandatory student fees, textbooks, software and other required training materials, and examination fees.
Meanwhile, almost 200 small businesses throughout the province have taken advantage of new resources at Small Business BC that make it easier to apply for Canada-B.C. Job Grant funding since the launch of a partnership between the provincial government and Small Business BC on June 7. Offering personalized advisers to help navigate the Canada-B.C. Job Grant application system through Small Business BC is another way the Province is supporting small businesses by making it easier for the sector to access government programs.
More than 400 employees in small businesses from the Kootenays to the northeast, spanning the tech sector to manufacturing industries, may receive training to help them learn new skills that contribute to the growth of businesses that drive the provincial economy. Small businesses and sole proprietors can benefit from skills training in areas such as leadership development, website design, digital marketing, social media, change management, first aid, workplace safety and human resources.