Minister Boissonnault announces funding to support skills training for Indigenous people across Canada Français
VANCOUVER, BC, March 7, 2024 /CNW/ - A strong economy and healthy communities are created when everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed. When First Nations, Inuit and Métis are supported, not only are they developing their own skills and competencies, they are also helping their communities, now and into the future.
Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, announced more than $170 million in funding for 24 projects through the Skills and Partnership Fund, following an open call for proposals in the spring of 2022. These new projects are targeting the training that Indigenous workers will need for jobs in the green economy, the information and communications technology sector, the infrastructure sector, the blue economy and the Indigenous public sector. The selection of these priority sectors was informed by the national engagement process that took place in advance of the launch of the 2022 call for proposals.
The Minister made the announcement while visiting the Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS) in Vancouver, which will receive more than $21 million for its Indigenous Training and Apprenticeship Program. ACCESS will use this funding to help urban Indigenous people overcome employment barriers and obtain the skills needed to complete technical training in a skilled trade and eventually achieve Red Seal journeyperson status.
The Skills and Partnership Fund is a project-based program supporting partnerships between Indigenous organizations and employers to provide targeted skills training for Indigenous people for in-demand jobs at the local, regional and national level. It is one of two complementary Indigenous labour market programs delivered by Employment and Social Development Canada, the other one being the distinctions-based Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program.
Both of these programs are working with Indigenous partners to ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Métis can fully contribute to and share in Canada's economic success, which is a critical part of advancing reconciliation and self-determination.
"When we provide Indigenous people with employment opportunities everyone benefits – Indigenous communities, the workforce and the economy. The Skills and Partnership Fund empowers and supports Indigenous people by providing the training and resources they need to shape their own career path and to shape Canada, for the better."
- Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages
"ACCESS is proud of our Indigenous apprenticeship training programs, providing culturally relevant opportunities in education, and skill development, and fostering greater economic independence and self-sufficiency to our people. These initiatives not only address skills shortages in Canada but also contribute to the empowerment of our Indigenous peoples through meaningful employment."
- Lynn White, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS).
- According to the 2021 Census, there are 1.8 million Indigenous people in Canada, accounting for 5% of the total population.
- According to Statistics Canada's Labour Market Survey, the employment rate of Indigenous people in January 2024 was 57.3%.
- Since 2010, the Skills and Partnership Fund has funded 130 projects, serving more than 52,500 Indigenous clients, with over 19,300 of them employed and over 2,900 returning to school.
- Through the Skills and Partnership Fund, the Government is providing an ongoing investment of $50 million per year, starting in 2022–2023.
- The Skills and Partnership Fund aims to close the skills and employment gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and to increase Indigenous participation in the labour market by ensuring that Indigenous people have improved skills and employment opportunities. This is helping to advance the Government of Canada's commitment to reconciliation and to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Call to Action #7 and shared priority #102 of Canada's United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan.
- Skills and Partnership Fund
- Engagement on the Future of the Skills and Partnership Fund - What We Learned Report
- Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For media enquiries, please contact: Mathis Denis, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, [email protected], 343-573-1846; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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