Press Release
June 14, 2024
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Greg Turner has joined his regional counterparts in demanding the federal government reverse a $625 million reduction in labour market transfer agreements.
This follows a recent meeting of the Atlantic Workforce Partnership, which was established by the Council of Atlantic Premiers in 2012 to help provinces prepare for changing skill requirements and labour needs.
“This decision will have a profound negative impact on our region’s ability to be responsive to current and emerging labour market opportunities and challenges,” said Turner. “We are calling on the federal government to immediately reverse this detrimental cut.”
The reduction was part of the latest federal budget.
The funding supports workforce development programs that help people find and maintain jobs in sectors facing critical labour shortages, such as construction, early learning and child care, and health care. These programs also support people with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, women and newcomers, helping them access the training and support necessary to secure meaningful work while also assisting employers in meeting their labour force needs.
It is estimated 120,000 individuals and 8,500 employers and organizations across Atlantic Canada benefit from these programs each year. The Atlantic ministers said they were not notified of the reduction – which brings funding for these programs to pre-2017 levels – prior to the release of the budget.
The ministers said most of the funding comes from the employment insurance account Canadian workers and employers pay into, and the change will result in a $62.3 million annual reduction in skills training and employment initiatives in Atlantic Canada. As well, the ministers said the federal government has not clarified where the funding taken from these programs is being spent.
Tara Chislett, communications, Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, tara.chislett@gnb.ca.
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