Budget 2019: Helping Canadians Find and Keep Good Jobs

SHERBROOKE, QC, March 26, 2019 /CNW/ - Since 2015, the Government of Canada has focused on strengthening and growing the middle class, and offering real help to people working hard to join it. This plan is working: since November 2015, hard-working Canadians have created more than 900,000 new jobs.

Budget 2019 is the next step in the Government's plan to make sure middle class Canadians benefit from Canada's economic growth. That includes helping more Canadians find an affordable home, prepare for good, well-paying jobs, retire with confidence and afford the prescription drugs they need.

Today, in Sherbrooke, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, highlighted how investments in Budget 2019, Investing in the Middle Class, would help Canadians find and keep good jobs in a rapidly changing job market and in an increasingly competitive global economy. 

Through Budget 2019, the Government is taking concrete action for students and workers of all ages by:

• Helping workers gain new skills with the creation of the new Canada Training Benefit, a benefit that will give workers money to help pay for training, provide four weeks of income support during training every four years, and, with the cooperation of the provinces and territories, ensure that leave provisions are introduced so that workers can take the time away from work to pursue training without risking their job security.
• Providing more on-the-job learning to young Canadians by creating up to 84,000 new student work placements per year by 2023-24, a significant step toward making sure every student who wants to gain relevant, real-world experience can find a work placement.
• Enhancing support for apprenticeship, encouraging more people to consider training and working in the skilled trades.
• Creating meaningful opportunities through the Canada Service Corps for young Canadians to learn new skills, gain leadership experience and contribute to their communities.
• Supporting Indigenous post-secondary education with measures designed to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis students obtain the skills and experiences they need to succeed, leading to stronger economic growth for all Canadians.
• Creating opportunities for young Canadians to travel, work or study abroad and gain skills needed to succeed in a global economy.

Canadians are among the most-skilled, highest-educated workers in the world, and through Budget 2019 the Government is ensuring Canadians can keep their skills relevant so that they can build good careers and benefit from Canada's growing economy.

Quotes

"The nature of work is changing around the world. Jobs are becoming more skill-intensive, and workers will need a greater ability to adapt throughout their careers. With Budget 2019, our Government is helping Canadian workers – present and future – adapt to the economy of tomorrow. Our investments will ensure Canadians, including those right here in Sherbrooke, have the education, skills and experience they need to find and keep the good jobs being created each year."
- Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"The Canada Training Benefit is absolutely relevant and necessary," said Marie-France Bélanger, executive director of the Cégep de Sherbrooke. "The current context of full employment creates an additional challenge for continuous training. Since workers already have good access to employment, they are less inclined to come seek new qualifications, whether for professional development or a career change. However, as processes change and technology evolves rapidly, we need to remember that lifelong learning is very important for both individual and collective development. Any initiative aimed at encouraging continuous professional development is therefore certainly welcome."
- Marie-Claude Dupoy, Executive Director of the Cégep de Sherbrooke

Quick Facts

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that about one in ten Canadian jobs are at high risk of automation, with about one in three jobs likely to experience significant change as a result of automation.
• The Government has already introduced a number of measures to help Canadian workers find and keep good jobs today, and prepare for the new good jobs of tomorrow:
• Budget 2016 grew Canada Student Grant amounts by 50 per cent and expanded eligibility criteria, making it possible for more students to receive assistance they don't have to pay back.  
• In Budget 2017, the Government introduced its Innovation and Skills Plan – an agenda that focuses on people and addresses the changing nature of the economy.
• Skills Boost, a series of measures announced in Budgets 2017 and 2018, plays a key role in ensuring the Government is able to provide skills development programs that help adult learners succeed in the workforce.
• Budget 2018 introduced the new Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which helps people who are currently underrepresented in the trades – including women, young people, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, and people with disabilities – prepare for an apprenticeship.
• Budget 2018 also introduced the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women to support women entering, progressing and completing their training in Red Seal trades where women are underrepresented.
• The Government makes significant investments in skills development – close to $7.5 billion annually. Almost $3 billion of this programming is delivered in partnership with the provinces, territories and Indigenous groups, and targets students and Canadians who are unemployed. 
• In Budget 2018, the Government committed to a review of skills programming to maximize its effectiveness, particularly the way in which support is provided to workers wishing to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Related Documents

• Budget Plan
• Budget Speech
• Backgrounder: The Canada Training Benefit
• Backgrounder: An Affordable Place to Call Home
• Backgrounder: Moving Forward on Implementing National Pharmacare
• Backgrounder: A Secure and Dignified Retirement for Canadians
• Backgrounder: Advancing Reconciliation With Indigenous Peoples
• Backgrounder: Building a Better Canada: Universal High-Speed Internet
• Backgrounder: Strong Communities, Affordable Electricity and a Clean Economy
• Gender Report (PDF 2 MB)
• Investing in Young Canadians (PDF 1 MB)
• The Fiscal Monitor (Financial Results for January 2019)

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SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada