Employers can receive up to $8,000 per trainee
Ontario is upping its support of underrepresented groups in the automotive manufacturing sector.
The government is investing $7 million for the training and paid job placements of workers under a project led by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA).
“Our automotive sector has openings across the province for talented, trained and eager workers,” says Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training and skills development.
“This program will help ensure people who face multiple barriers get access to free training and get on track to promising careers in assembly line work, machine operation or quality assurance, to name a few. This will energize our economy, workforce and, just as importantly, create great, local jobs that make our communities stronger. We will once again make Ontario’s automotive sector one of the most competitive in the world.”
The funding will help APMA in working with community agencies and employment service providers to place up to 100 trainees per month with hundreds of auto parts manufacturers across Ontario. Trainees will be in job placement sessions for at least three months.
Nearly six in 10 (57 per cent) of Canadian workers are willing to reskill to get into a new career, according to a previous report.
Training may include on-the-job training, in-class or online learning. It will cover topic such as problem solving, document use, basic math, project management, as well as oral communication, critical thinking and interpersonal skills.
Meanwhile, employers participating in the program will receive up to $8,000 in supports per trainee. From the total, a maximum of $3,000 can be used as a wage subsidy and $5,000 to cover costs related to training.
“Ours is an industry with an incredible future that is critically short of people to share in it,” says Flavio Volpe, APMA president. “Partnerships like these allow us to build permanent pathways into new communities who would otherwise not have accessed this prosperity.”
The new funding is part of Ontario’s $115-million Skills Development Fund, designed to support fresh ideas for training and skills development.
In March, Ontario announced it is investing $47 million in apprenticeship programs through 2021-22. Ontario also previously invested $21 million in pre-apprenticeship training programs to help those facing employment barriers to start careers in the skilled trades.
