‘Specific’ kinds of job skills training backed
Robinson said anytime the government helps businesses to send their employees to these types of training programs, it helps to meet the needs of the workforce and also builds capacity for the workers to grow in their careers.
THUNDER BAY — Applications for the fifth intake of the provincial Skills Development Fund (SDF) Training Stream are open for organizations to access funding for projects that address challenges in hiring, training, apprentices or retaining workers.
Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, said the government is responding to the need for a more skilled workforce.
She said anytime there is a new opportunity for funding to help businesses train employees, the chamber sends the message to its members in hopes of them finding a solution.
“The first challenge is there’s not enough people to fill the jobs,” Robinson said.
“But then sometimes the applicants that are interested in the job aren’t at the level of skill that they need to be, so they require a fair bit of training. When that happens, that’s an added expense to employers if they have to be sending them for specific things.”
She added that in the case of this Skills Development Fund, it is meant for specific training programs that help to support apprenticeship or authorized training programs.
“It’s more tangible training that is a skill that would go with the employee wherever they go,” she said.
“Whether that’s customer service, financial, something to do with bookkeeping or if it’s more for on the construction site like working at heights, it’s for those kinds of really specific training courses, which sometimes can be expensive.”
Robinson said anytime the government helps businesses to send their employees to these types of training programs, it helps to meet the needs of the workforce and also builds capacity for the workers to grow in their careers.
The Skills Development Fund Training Stream aims to support projects that address the labour shortage while stimulating growth in key sectors of Ontario’s economic projects. These projects aim to increase Ontario’s long-term economic, competitive advantage by creating sustainable and resilient workforce projects.
In turn, this will support individuals with prior involvement in the criminal justice system, racialized persons and Indigenous people, those with disabilities, and others facing barriers to employment.
Organizations that are eligible to apply include:
• Employers in Ontario.
• Minister-approved non-college apprenticeship training delivery agents.
• Non-profit organizations, including Indigenous band offices and Indigenous Skills and Employment Training agreement holders.
• Professional/industry/employer associations.
• Trade unions or union-affiliated organizations.
• Municipalities, District Social Services Administration Boards, consolidated municipal service managers.
• Hospitals.
Organizations that are eligible to apply to the Skills Development Fund Training Stream as co-applicants with one or more of the organizations above:
• District school boards, publicly assisted colleges, universities or Indigenous Institutes in Ontario.
• Career colleges registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
Applicants must be submitted by Oct. 4, 2024, to Transfer Payment Ontario.
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