How Businesses can receive a 66% Grant for 3rd Party Employee Training
According to the 2014 Management Issues Study (MIS) carried out by over 800 companies across Canada, 44% of businesses believe that the labour situation has worsened in the last three years, attributed to skills shortages, training, and retention. The Canadian government has taken note of this issue, launching the Canada Job Grant, specifically aimed at skills development and career advancement related training.
What is the Canada Job Grant?
The Canada Job Grant launched in the fall of 2014 as a six-year initiative to incentivize training initiatives via dedicated third party training programs. This business grant will cover up to 66% of eligible expenses to a maximum of $10,000 per trainee. Eligible expenses include:
- Third party training costs;
- Course registration fees;
- Examination expenses;
- Textbook/course materials; and
- Training related software.
Is your business eligible for the Canada Job Grant?
In order to be eligible for this funding program, businesses need to be incorporated in Canada and apply through their provincial program variant. For example, Ontario businesses would apply for the Canada-Ontario Job Grant. Although each province has some unique eligibility factors or focuses, all Canada Job Grant variants require applicants to choose Canadian-based trainers in one of the following categories:
- Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology;
- Publicly assisted universities;
- School boards;
- Private trainers operating in compliance with the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005;
- Product vendors with manufacturer-recognized training certifications (i.e. Microsoft software, Cisco Systems, etc.); and
- Union-based training centres.
Approval times for applications are dependent on the influx of submissions, however most provinces will review applications and provide applicants with a response within one month. Please ensure that you have not started the training program or paid training expenses prior to approval.
Eligible Training with In-House Solutions
Third party trainers that are able to provide certification on products, such as Mastercam, are ideal training providers for the Canada Job Grant, making In-House Solutions a logical fit for this grant. If you plan to carry out any of In-House Solutions’ Training Courses, whether it is on-site training, private classroom training, certification training, online training, or a blended approach this grant is a cash flow planning resource to reduce the financial investment required from the business.
Please note that since businesses need to apply for their employees’ training, individual employees cannot apply to Canada Job Grant. Owners of businesses also cannot apply for funding for themselves, but managers and supervisors are eligible for funding.
What are the required training benefits?
Canada Job Grant was created with the trainee/employee in mind. Benefits from the project must be linked directly to the applicant’s workforce. Thus, applicants should consider if new jobs are created, promotions are earned, pay raises are awarded, or additional job responsibilities are given to trainees. Specifically, the Canada Job Grant focuses on valuable impacts to employees and the applying business, including:
- Impact on the job role;
- Impact on the job title;
- Impact on salary;
- Skills development;
- Job creation; and
- Business impact/growth.
In-House Solutions has helped businesses across Canada with their training activities, leading to impactful benefits.
The Mill Level 1 course was my first real entry into CNC programming and while we were pressed for time it was a clear and well thought out intro. I learned more than was necessary and I do have a more clear understanding for programming different types of projects. I appreciate the whole learning experience and look to using my new programming talents in the future, many thanks to all the staff who helped out.
Philip Hristov, DNR Industries
Apply for the Canada Job Grant Today
The Canada Job Grant is now available to incorporated businesses across Canada. Mentor Works supports businesses across the nation with their funding needs by assessing the business’ eligibility for various grants and loans and building a unique funding strategy. If you would like to determine your eligibility and potential grant award for Canada Job Grant or other programs, please feel free to sign up for an upcoming Free Funding Webinar, including Canada Job Grant specific webinars, or contact a Mentor Works funding specialist directly.
Chris Casemore, Mentor Works Ltd.
Chris is the Director of Client Management & Development at Mentor Works Ltd., specializing in strategic planning through customized funding approaches. Mentor Works has helped hundreds of businesses across Canada discover and leverage funding to optimize their growth plans.
