The Canadian Agricultural Skill Service (CASS) program is the perfect opportunity for farmers considering upgrading their skills or learning a new skill.
CASS is a federal-provincial initiative designed to assist farmers and their spouses to increase family income by learning new skills or improving existing farm practices.
The program offers financial assistance to qualifying farm families to enhance farming practices, train for other employment options or start a new business.
It allows for a maximum benefit of up to $16,000 based on government set criteria.
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The program is funded until March 31, 2008.
To get started, go to the CASS page on Agriculture Canada’s website at www.agr.gc.ca/cass. It has contacts for each province.
Review the criteria, download the application form, complete it and forward it to a provincial delivery agent. Applicants will be required to provide income tax returns for the past three years to verify their family’s income level and eligibility.
They will be assigned a program officer and directed to a counselor or program co-ordinator, depending on their province and delivery agent.
For farmers who aren’t certain what career direction to take, CASS offers eligible applicants the opportunity to meet with a qualified career counselor to identify strengths and skills through an assessment process.
Each applicant is required to create, with the assistance of a career counselor, an individual learning plan, which identifies training needs and goals. The plan is submitted for approval before the participant begins training.
Financial support may cover eligible costs such as tuition, texts, related expenses, child care and replacement labour up to the maximum benefit determined by the farm family average net income.
More than 9,600 CASS applications have been received from Western Canadian farmers.
The number of applications is bound to increase now that harvest is complete and the cold weather is here.
The application process can take more than a month in Saskatchewan and about three weeks in Manitoba depending on the client’s availability. The Manitoba delivery agency wants the client to be contacted by one of its five co-ordinators within 24 hours of receiving the application to start the process as quickly as possible.
A variety of formal and informal training programs are CASS approved and are available to the farmer and spouse. This assortment offers a variety of start times.
Some programs can be accessed in the farmer’s home via the internet or through other distance learning methods.
The average Canadian farmer is 52 years old. Training and education opportunities have changed a lot since most middle aged farmers attended school.
Education is not only available in classrooms; teaching methods have changed. Learning as a mature student is not as difficult as one might think. Farmers should start small and test drive their learning abilities. They may be pleasantly surprised.
A Chinese proverb best describes the power of education and training:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Therri Papp is a career development educator offering on-line personal development programs and career consulting to individuals and business groups. For further information call 306-249-4937 or visit www.freeyesinfo.com.
