Alberta’s minister of labour is encouraging employers to use the Canada-Alberta Jobs Grant to assist in training current and new employees.
Minister Christina Gray said more than $29 million has already been approved for job training and more than 2,400 employers in the province will receive grants.
The minister provided an update on the program at Southland Trailers in Lethbridge, where 10 em-ployees have received training partially funded by the program.
“Employers know that having a skilled workforce is vital to their business growth and success,” said Gray.
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“Training staff goes a long way to strengthening an organization’s work force. It leads to more productive, engaged and motivated em-ployees.”
Gray emphasized the flexibility of the program and said agriculture businesses are among those who could use it.
“It can be used to train existing or new employees,” she said.
“If someone is currently unemployed, for example, and is looking for work, the employer can use the Canada Alberta job grant to train that new employee, making it easier to bring someone new into their organization.”
The jobs grant first became available in October 2014 to help Alberta meet its labour challenges. The province administers the program with joint funding from the federal government.
Since inception, Gray said more than 11,000 training courses have been approved. Employers decide on who and what type of training to provide.
About $17.5 million in funding has been allocated to the program for 2016-17.
