Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 10, 2014 March 10, 2014 2 NEWS NEWS Recent stories posted on www.hrreporter.com. Check the website daily for quick news hits from across Canada and around the world. WEB O N T H E COMPENSATION (416) 498-7800 ext. 141 www.resourcecorporation.com Compensation Surveys Incentive Programs Job Descriptions Job Evaluation Pay Equity Performance Appraisal Salary Administration Sales Compensation CONSULTING Ottawa targets skills training Ottawa targets skills training New off erings include Canada Apprentice Loan, newcomer training project New off erings include Canada Apprentice Loan, newcomer training project BY LIZ BERNIER MORE GOVERNMENT invest- ment in skills training has long been on the wish list for employ- ers grappling with the ever-wid- ening skills gap — and it appears Ottawa has gotten the message. Strategic investment in skills development is a major theme of the 2014 federal budget, and Feb- ruary saw the unveiling of two in- novative skills training initiatives that are set to receive funding. Canada Apprentice Loan helps redirect unemployed One was the newly created Can- ada Apprentice Loan, an interest- free student loan for apprentice- ship training in Red Seal trades. That announcement came just a few days after Jason Kenney, minister of employment and so- cial development and minister for multiculturalism, announced federal funding for the Alternative Pathways for Newcomers project through the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC). Despite their diff erent focus- es, both initiatives are designed to help redirect unemployed or underemployed workers toward "high-opportunity" careers — which is a key issue in addressing the skills gap, according to Sean Reid, federal director of the Pro- gressive Contractors Association, based in Hamilton. "One of the big challenges in this skills shortage is moving people from low-opportunity career paths to high-opportunity career paths. e economic land- scape is changing... and so a lot of people are having to transition," he said. " e beauty of the apprentice loan is that we believe it's going to remove one more barrier for people who have been consider- ing making that change, but for various financial reasons — as well as other reasons — have been reluctant to do so." e Canada Apprentice Loan will provide more than $100 mil- lion in interest-free loans each year to apprentices in Red Seal trades. An expansion of the Can- ada Student Loans Program, the apprentice loan will provide ap- prentices with up to $4,000 per period of technical training. Until this point, there had been no comparable vehicle for apprentices to receive federal student loans, said Sarah Watts- Rynard, executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum in Ottawa. "It was a gap that existed. Ap- prentices weren't eligible for Canada Student Loans, mostly because they aren't considered students fi rst — they're consid- ered employees," she said. But even though much of their training takes place during paid on-the-job employment, many apprentices face signifi- cant financial barriers during the technical training periods where they're not being paid, said Watts-Rynard. "Apprentices do fi nd that there's some fi nancial hardship involved with going back to school. And because they are employed full- time when they're not in school, they are used to getting a pay- cheque and obviously have all of the responsibilities that come with that," she said. "We also fi nd that apprentices are usually in their mid to late 20s. So they do have fi nancial obliga- tions… It's important for them to be able to go back to school and obviously still be able to get some kind of support." And it's not just 20-something apprentices who will benefi t — the loan will also provide support for those who are considering a career change or facing unem- ployment relatively late in their careers, said Reid. "Maybe they're working in the manufacturing sector in south- ern Ontario and they've just been given notice that six months from now their shop is going to be winding down. It can be quite dif- fi cult for somebody who's a little bit older, maybe they've got a fam- ily, to go back into the classroom at that point. ere's a lot of hid- den costs associated with that," he said. " is loan can actually subsi- dize that and... make it just a little bit easier for people to make that decision to get into high-opportu- nity skilled trades." Hopefully, the loan will be a positive push for employers, whether hiring apprentices or not, said Watts-Rynard. "From the point of view of em- ployers who are already hiring and training apprentices, I hope that it will encourage them to see the benefi t of letting their apprentices go back to school," she said. "In terms of how it aff ects em- ployers that maybe aren't hiring and training, but are talking about the skills shortage, I would hope it encouraged more apprentices to complete their certification and perhaps go back to school… If you have more certifi ed people in the job market, then that's good for people who say that they have skills shortages." e loan won't be a cure-all, said Watts-Rynard — but at least it's starting the right conversations. "Probably the most positive thing when it comes to appren- ticeships and the skilled trades is that it is being talked about. It's not a specifi c announcement that I would say, 'Oh, that's going to make the diff erence,'" she said. "It's a matter of continuing to try and see how we can impact the number of apprentices. By talking about it, you encourage young people and their parents, educators to see those as viable career options, and I think that's the fi rst step." Reid agreed the loan is just one more piece of the puzzle. " e main thing is the gov- ernment is rightly focused on removing barriers for people to move into high-opportunity pro- fessions like the skilled trades. We think the Canada Apprentice Loan will help do that and it's just another piece of the puzzle that's going to help us solve the skills shortage." Alternative Pathways for Newcomers project A different piece of the skills shortage puzzle has to do with skilled newcomers to Canada who are unemployed or underem- ployed, and struggling to improve their situations. "I call it the Canadian experi- ence paradox. e employer says to you 'I'm sorry, you can't apply unless you have Canadian experi- ence.' And you say to them 'Well, how do I get Canadian experience if I can't get a Canadian job?'" said Kenney, while announcing fund- ing for the new Alternative Path- ways for Newcomers project. "Too many of our new Cana- dians end up feeling and being excluded from their potential in our economy. And that's a waste for them, it's a waste for us." So the federal government is providing $800,000 in funding for the project through the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC). Many newcomers who already have training in critical sectors like health care are working in underpaid jobs that have little to do with their backgrounds, said Serge Buy, CEO of NACC in Ottawa. "As soon as they arrive in Can- ada, their experience and their credentials are not recognized. And that's extremely frustrating for them because they have a pas- sion which got them to study in a specifi c fi eld," he said. "Often what happens then is they are completely taken out of the system, and they end up get- ting jobs that pay much less and are absolutely unrelated to their passion and their education." e Alternative Pathways for Newcomers project aims to ed- ucate these skilled newcomers about alternative career options and connect them with training that will get them working in their fi elds in a short period of time. "So the question is the follow- ing: Can we take a lawyer from Pakistan, as an example, and get him to become a paralegal in On- tario or an immigration consul- tant? Can we take the engineer and get them to become an Au- toCAD drafter? Can we take the doctor and get them to become a nurse? Can we get the nurse and get them to become a personal support worker?" said Buy. "Yes, we can — and probably in much less time than would be re- quired in their initial professions. So that's what we're looking at." Some career colleges have al- ready been doing this success- fully and the government fund- ing for the new project will allow NACC to formalize and broaden the scope. "What we're trying to do is in- crease to scope and create bridges between immigrant-serving or- ganizations and career colleges, to get more information to the newcomers," he said. "So instead of them getting dis- couraged and dropping all of their education and going in a dead- end job, maybe we can get really quickly to something that leads to better employment that will end up benefi ting Canada — and them as well." Credit: Patrick Doyle (Reuters) Finance Minister Jim Flaherty waits outside a post-budget breakfast in Ottawa on Feb. 12. BUDGET ROUNDUP Budget highlights for HR Canada Job Grant: Proposed last year but ran into opposition from provinces. Gives $15,000 grant to cover job training, with $5,000 each coming from Ottawa, the provinces and businesses. Public servants: Retired government employees will be asked to pay 50 per cent of the cost of their health benefi ts, up from 25 per cent. This will save Ottawa $7.4 billion over six years and increase the cost of annual contributions from retirees from $261 to $550. The government also wants to negotiate changes to disability and sick leave provisions for public servants, and ensure compensation is "fair and reasonable." Foreign workers: Ottawa will ban employers from paying temporary foreign workers less than what they would normally pay domestic workers, and the use of temporary foreign workers would be restricted in areas of high unemployment. Defi cit: A defi cit of $2.9 billion is being projected but that includes a $3-billion contingency reserve, so the budget is essentially balanced. The surplus for 2015-16 is expected to hit $6.4 billion. MP, senator pensions: Senators and MPs who have been suspended will no longer accrue pension benefi ts. It's not clear if the legislation will be enforced retroactively once it has passed. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS •employment insurance benefi ts for apprentices •a "Made in Canada" branding campaign. As Kenney agrees to province's demands, Canada Job Grant deal inches closer Counter-proposal talks about funding, new deadline Ottawa to divide P.E.I. into two EI regions in October Changes will better refl ect the province's economy: Federal government Ontario's PCs back off right-to-work policy Comes after byelection loss to NDP Youth and the union movement in Canada At a recent Canadian HR Reporter roundtable discussion on the future of unions in the private sector, panellists discussed how unions might be trying to entice young workers into the fold. hrreporter.com FEATURED VIDEO

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