September 9th, 2011

Ontario’s workforce is an essential contributor to the economic success of the province. In an ever-changing economic climate, Ontario’s workforce needs to respond accordingly.

Studies show that participation in training programs helps increase productivity across a workforce. Targeting every level in an organization (thus avoiding the common pitfall of training upper managers only) can have a dramatic impact on the successful operating climate of any business.

Investing in the training process is a necessary first step, but having government grants for business helps bring and ideal training regimen from the drawing board into reality. On March 28, 2014, Ontario took an important step in this direction by introducing the Canada-Ontario Job Grant in collaboration with the federal government. This six-year training grant initiative is but one initiative led by the Government of Ontario to help employers in Ontario develop their workforce with employer-led training.

Benefits of the Grant

The Canada-Ontario Job Grant directly provides governing grants for businesses that require financial assistance for the training of their employees.

This grant provides funding for all Ontario businesses, regardless of their size. Businesses with a well-developed plan for short-term training that applies to existing or new employees are eligible for consideration.

Available Funding

Eligible businesses receive up to $10,000 in government grants, per person, for training costs. Employers provide one-third of the overall training costs. The grant is also flexible enough to cater to the needs of small businesses, providing them with an in-kind contribution towards the training costs.

This funding covers tuition costs, student fees, or any other training fees. Training-related fees can include textbooks, software, or any other required materials such as tools, equipment, or disability support of some kind.

Training Programs

This grant outfits employees to gain new skills in their current job posting, to prepare a different job under the same employer, or to hire someone new altogether. The employer has to have the proposed job available by the end of the training period.

The grant stipulates that training needs to come from an eligible third-party trainer. Training cannot exceed a year in length, and needs to come from one of the following accredited sources:

• Colleges of applied arts and technology
• School boards
• Publicly assisted universities
• Private trainers working in accordance with the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005
• Product vendors
• Union-based training centres

Training cannot exceed a year in length because employers should be identifying immediate wins for their companies. They need to find particular skill gaps that need to be addressed, and they work to fill these gaps by introducing a training regime that fills the respective gaps while finding employees that need training in each area that needs attention.

Under this grant, the government launched two specific programs: Customized Training and UpSkill. Customized Training helps develop unique solutions for different individual workforces where there is an existing training gap. The UpSkill program provides short-term technical and essential training skills in line with the overall sector needs.

The more that employers interact with their workforce, the better their employees will be trained, and the more successful the business becomes. Creating effective partnerships between employers and employees makes for an efficient, resilient, and effective workplace. The Canada-Ontario Job Grant is just one of many government grants for businesses that helps employers make the most of their workforce.Contact as at INAC today. We can work together to give your application a competitive edge.