Budget 2019: Helping Canadians Find and Keep Good Jobs
The Voice of Canada News:
Since 2015, the Government of Canada has focused on strengthening and growing the middle class, and offering real help to people working hard to join it. This plan is working: since November 2015, hard-working Canadians have created more than 900,000 new jobs.
Budget 2019 is the next step in the Government’s plan to make sure middle class Canadians benefit from Canada’s economic growth. That includes helping more Canadians find an affordable home, prepare for the good, well-paying jobs, retire with confidence and afford the prescription drugs they need.
In Winnipeg, the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification, highlighted how investments in Budget 2019, Investing in the Middle Class, would help Canadians find and keep good jobs in a rapidly changing job market and in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Through Budget 2019, the Government is taking concrete action for students and workers of all ages by:
- Helping workers gain new skills with the creation of the new Canada Training Benefit. This benefit will provide workers with financial support to help pay for training, and provide four weeks of income support during training every four years. In addition, with the cooperation of the provinces and territories, it will ensure that leave provisions are introduced so that workers can take time away from work to pursue training without risking their job security.
- Making post-secondary education more affordable by lowering interest rates on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans, and making the six-month grace period interest-free after a student loan borrower leaves school.
- Providing more on-the-job learning to young Canadians by creating up to 84,000 new student work placements per year by 2023-24, a significant step toward making sure every student who wants to gain relevant, real-world experience can find a work placement.
- Enhancing support for apprenticeship and encouraging more people to consider training and working in the skilled trades.
- Creating meaningful opportunities through the Canada Service Corps for young Canadians to learn new skills, gain leadership experience and contribute to their communities.
- Supporting Indigenous post-secondary education with measures designed to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis students obtain the skills and experiences they need to succeed, leading to stronger economic growth for all Canadians.
- Creating opportunities for young Canadians to travel, work or study abroad and gain skills needed to succeed in a global economy.
Canadians are among the most-skilled, highest-educated workers in the world, and through Budget 2019, the Government is ensuring Canadians can keep their skills relevant so they can build good careers and benefit from Canada’s growing economy.
Quotes
“Our government is helping Canadians prepare for the challenges of today and tomorrow by removing the barriers to get the skills they need to find and keep a good job or get retraining to help secure work for years to come. With the cooperation of the provinces and territories, we’re enhancing support for apprenticeship, encouraging more people to consider training and working in the skilled trades. We’re investing in the middle class so Canadians can feel more confident about the future for themselves and their families.”
– Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification
Quick facts
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that about one in ten Canadian jobs are at high risk of automation, with about one in three jobs likely to experience significant change because of automation.
- The Government has already introduced a number of measures to help Canadian workers find and keep good jobs today, and prepare for the new good jobs of tomorrow:
- Budget 2016 grew Canada Student Grant amounts by 50 per cent and expanded eligibility criteria, making it possible for more students to receive the assistance they don’t have to pay back.
- In Budget 2017, the Government introduced its Innovation and Skills Plan – an agenda that focuses on people and addresses the changing nature of the economy.
- Skills Boost, a series of measures announced in Budgets 2017 and 2018, plays a key role in ensuring the Government is able to provide skills development programs that help adult learners succeed in the workforce.
- Budget 2018 introduced the new Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which helps people who often underrepresented in the trades – including women, young people, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, and people with disabilities – prepare for an apprenticeship.
- Budget 2018 also introduced the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women to support women entering, progressing and completing their training in Red Seal trades where they are underrepresented.
- The Government makes significant investments in skills development – close to $7.5 billion annually. Almost $3 billion of this programming is delivered in partnership with the provinces, territories and Indigenous groups, and targets students and Canadians who are unemployed.
In Budget 2018, the Government committed to a review of skills programming to maximize its effectiveness, particularly the way in which support is provided to workers wishing to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
