Critical Perspective on the New Canada Job Grant Program

JULY 2013 – CANADA

As part of its Economic Action Plan 2013, the federal government announced the creation of a new Canada Job Grant (CJG). According to the Canadian authorities, this skills development program will allow 130,000 Canadians each year to access the training they need to connect with available jobs. The grant of a maximum of $ 15,000 per person will be funded equally by the federal government, employers and provincial and territorial governments (source).

In a report entitled “The Training Wheels Are Off: A Closer Look at the Canada Job Grant”, Michael Mendelson and Noah Zon criticize this new federal program, which will result in a decrease of 60% of the annual budget allocated to provinces and territories under Labour Market Agreements (LMA), funds used to develop and maintain an extensive network of proven support for training and employment programs. In addition to experiencing this $300 million cut, the federated entities will have to generate an additional $300 million to match the federal contribution. According to the authors, the CJG ­ which represents a new interference in provincial jurisdiction from the Canadian government ­ was launched without consultation with the provinces, without any pilot project and without any documentation to support the proposed approach.

You can consult the full report on the Mowat Centre Website at the following address:
http://mowatcentre.ca/research-topic-mowat.php?mowatResearchID=84.