Provincial, federal governments disagree about why funding for training was cut
The Canada-Alberta Job Grant is closed for applications until March 31, 2025 but the provincial and federal governments have opposing takes on the reason why.
The training program involves employers applying on behalf of present or future employees for eligible training costs. Employers decide who gets training and what type of training may be needed for their employees.
The program provides employers funding for two-thirds of employee training, predominantly in the trades, for costs such as educational materials, mandatory student fees and exam fees, noted CBC.
“As a result of Ottawa’s unexpected and unreasonable decision to cut $70.8 million in Labour Market Transfer Agreement (LMTA) funding for Alberta, our government has been forced to put an indefinite hold on the Canada-Alberta Job Grant program for the remainder of the 2024-25 fiscal year,” said Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and trade.
Because of this “cut,” Alberta’s employers will be short roughly $10 million in skills and training funding for 2024-25, according to Jones. This means about 1,000 businesses, and the training for up to 4,000 Albertan employees, will be impacted, he added.
“This cut to funding has serious, far-reaching consequences for workers and comes at a time when Alberta continues to face critical skills shortages in several industries, including construction, health care and education. The Canada-Alberta Job Grant program has helped thousands of Albertans close skills gaps, further strengthening Alberta’s labour market and growing our economy,” said Jones.
In 2022, the Alberta government allocated an additional $23 million to its Canada-Alberta Job Grant.
‘Funding coming to an end’
However, the federal government claims that no cuts have been made.
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In the 2023 Budget, Ottawa announced that top-up funding was extended for only one year, and provinces and territories were aware of that funding coming to an end, the federal government said, according to the CBC report.
What happened was merely an expiration of top-up funding that was set to end this year, according to Ottawa.
"The government of Canada continues to provide nearly $3 billion annually in base funding to provinces and territories through LMTAs," the federal government said in a statement, according to CBC.
They added that Alberta gets over $250 million in 2024-25 through the Labour Market Development Agreements and Workforce Developments Agreements.
"Some provinces and territories took action and reallocated some funds and some did not."
Provinces such as Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia have previously announced provincial funding to train workers for employment.
End of training funds will have ‘significant impact’ on employers
Whether it was a matter of a job cut or an end to funding, the halt to the job grant is a cause for concern for Calgary's construction industry, said Bill Black, president of the Calgary Construction Association, in the CBC report.
"A grant such as this has literally been the difference between being able to invest in developing their people and their workforce and not," he said.
"Without it, there's gonna be a significant impact on these smaller businesses and that will have ripple effects, obviously, on the overall bench strength and bandwidth of the industry over time."
A majority of people leaders across the world are starting to evaluate employees based on skill, citing its impact on retention and diversity, according to a previous report.