Ontario Fall Economic Outlook Outlines Investments in Skilled Trades
Last week, Ontario Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy released the 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario. This “mini-budget” lays out the government’s spending priorities for the coming years and included the following items:
- An extension to the temporary Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit by one year, providing Ontarians with an additional $275 million of support for eligible training expenses.
- An additional $90.3 million in its Skilled Trades Strategy over the three years to promote and streamline careers in the skilled trades. Key new initiatives include creating a skilled trades career fair as well as enhancing the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and the Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program.
- $5 million in 2021-22 to expand the Second Career Program to aid newcomers, gig workers, and people with disabilities acquire the skills needed for in-demand jobs.
HRAI welcomes the expansion and continued funding of all three initiatives, which together underscore the importance of demand-driven skills programs that help Ontarians train for employment. Reskilling for in-demand careers will be essential to addressing Ontario’s protracted labour shortage and skills mismatches. The Province has also recently announced it will ask the federal government to double the number of immigrants allowed under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (from 9,000 to 18,000) and table legislation outlining foreign credential recognition for internationally trained immigrants, which will help further alleviate labour shortages if passed.
For more information, contact Chelsea Goberdhan at 1-800-267-2231 ext. 236, or email cgoberdhan@hrai.ca.
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