Ottawa to announce over $350M for skilled trades worker training, recruitment
The federal government will announce plans to help fund new infrastructure, equipment and recruitment efforts by unions and other organizations to train workers as part of a major funding announcement expected on Thursday.
Funding part of effort to hire and train 80,000 to 100,000 new workers by 2031
Kate McKenna · CBC News
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The federal government will announce plans to help fund new infrastructure, equipment and recruitment efforts by unions and other organizations to train workers as part of a major funding announcement expected on Thursday.
Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli is expected to announce more than $350 million in funding, according to a senior government official speaking on background.
CBC News is not naming the official because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the announcement.
The funding aims to help fulfil an objective announced in the spring economic update called Team Canada Strong — a plan to recruit, train and hire 80,000 to 100,000 new skilled trades workers with the nationally recognized Red Seal certification by 2030-31.
The push is part of an ongoing effort to close a gap of more than 20,000 skilled trades workers per year. It comes as the Liberals' C-39, a bill intended to speed up major project approvals and construction, moves through Parliament.
The funding will be provided partially through the Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) and partially through the money earmarked in the spring economic update, and will include three different streams.
The first stream will help fund investments in equipment for unions, colleges and other organizations that train workers in the Red Seal trades. The federal government will temporarily pay up to 70 per cent of the cost of training equipment, up from 50 per cent.
The second stream, infrastructure, is intended to help unions and organizations training workers expand or build union-run training centres to increase capacity across the country. The government is looking to help finance shovel-ready projects that can begin construction by next spring.
The third stream, innovation, will offer funding for organizations and unions with ideas to recruit, retain and train Red Seal trades, including supporting apprentices in progressing toward certification.
This could include things like integrating artificial intelligence or helping recruit apprentices through new initiatives.
Part of $6B plan for workers
The formal announcement is set to take place on Thursday morning in Metcalfe, Ont., just outside of Ottawa.
In the 2026 spring economic update, the federal government pledged $6 billion over five years to recruit, train and hire workers.
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It announced plans to offer wage subsidies for employers that hire apprentices, creating paid, entry-level trades-related work that leads to apprenticeship and offering apprentices with a weekly income top-up, as well as training completion bonuses.
The details of those plans — including when they are set to be rolled out — have not yet been released.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate McKenna is a senior reporter with CBC’s parliamentary bureau in Ottawa, where she covers federal politics. She previously worked for CBC’s The Fifth Estate and in the Halifax, Montreal and Charlottetown newsrooms. Her investigative and breaking news coverage has won five RTDNA awards. She is the author of No Choice: The 30-Year Fight for Abortion on Prince Edward Island.
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