Training a Highly Skilled Workforce

The Harper Government is fulfilling its promise to balance the budget in 2015. Canada's Economic Action Plan has been underpinned by prudent fiscal management and the Government's low-tax plan for jobs, growth and security. Since the depths of the recession, over 1.2 million net new jobs have been created—overwhelmingly full-time, well-paying and in the private sector.

At the same time, the Government has lowered taxes every year since coming into office, and has delivered the lowest overall federal tax burden in over 50 years.

The Government's balanced-budget, low-tax plan for jobs, growth and security is working. But the job is not done. There are new challenges on the horizon, and the Government must stay the course to protect the economic interests of Canadians and the security of Canada.

Economic Action Plan 2015 (EAP 2015) builds a stronger Canada by:

Training the Workforce of Tomorrow

To support jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in an increasingly competitive world, Canada's workforce needs the skills required for new and better jobs.

EAP 2015 builds on previous Government measures to train the workforce of tomorrow by:

• Taking action to help harmonize apprenticeship training and certification requirements in targeted Red Seal trades. This measure will directly benefit apprentices by ensuring that they are able to have their credentials recognized in all Canadian provinces, making it easier to relocate to work and train where the jobs are.
• Making a one-time investment of $65 million over four years to business and industry associations to allow them to work with willing post-secondary institutions to better align curricula with the needs of employers.
• Expanding eligibility for the Low- and Middle-Income Canada Student Grants to short duration programs, helping ensure that more students can pursue short duration post-secondary programs that focus on practical skills and provide a quick transition from education to employment.
• Supporting post-secondary education by reducing the expected parental contribution and eliminating in-study student income from the Canada Student Loans Program needs assessment process. These changes better recognize the financial realities faced by Canadian families, and ensure that students can work and gain valuable labour market experience while attending school without having to worry about a reduction in their financial assistance.
• Investing $248.5 million over five years in Aboriginal labour market programming to support a skilled and engaged Aboriginal labour force.
• Investing $2 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, to expand the Computers for Schools program, enabling more Canadians to fully participate in the digital economy.

Supporting Canadian Workers

More than training the workforce of tomorrow, the Government is taking concrete action to help today's workers get connected with available jobs—good jobs that match their skills and benefit Canada's economy. EAP 2015 goes further by:

• Investing $53.8 million over two years to extend the current Employment Insurance Working While on Claim pilot project to August 2016.
• Enhancing labour market information, including the launch of a new one-stop national labour market information portal.
• Making permanent the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans pilot project.