Employment Insurance Training
In order to keep Ontario strong, we need to invest in our people. We need to give them the training they need to contribute to our economy. To do this, we need the same level of support for training programs that the federal government gives other provinces.
The federal government spends $1,143 per unemployed Ontarian on labour market programs, compared to $1,827 per unemployed Canadian living in the rest of Canada.
If all unemployed Ontarians received the same in EI regular benefits as people living in the rest of Canada, they would have received an extra $1 billion. Unemployed Ontarians deserve the same support from the federal government provided to unemployed people in the rest of the country.
Ontario has the largest apprenticeship system in Canada.
We recently announced new investments of $37 million in our apprenticeship system.
We’ve introduced an apprenticeship training tax credit of 25 to 30 per cent for small business employers.
We’ve established 1,500 annual scholarships of $1,000 each for youth who have left school, but require upgrading to meet the registration standards for apprenticeship — along with $2,000 signing bonuses for employers who hire and train them.
460,000 people in Ontario are unemployed.
More Ontarians have jobs today than under the very best years of the previous government — but there is more to do.
The 2004 Ontario Budget provided new investments of $9.5 million in 2004-05, growing to $12.5 million annually by 2005-06, to remove barriers to employment faced by immigrants and create opportunities for internationally trained professionals to contribute to Ontario’s growth.
Recent immigrants have an unemployment rate of 30 per cent.
We invested $9.5 million in 2004-05 to smooth the transition for internationally trained professionals, growing to $12.5 million annually.
Our $5-million Apprenticeship Innovation Fund keeps our curriculum and standards up-to-date and is helping internationally trained people become certified in Ontario so they can enter the job market faster.