Government of Canada announces agreement to give Nova Scotians the tools they need to find and keep good jobs

July 13, 2018               Halifax, Nova Scotia             Employment and Social Development Canada

By investing directly in Canada’s greatest asset—its resilient, hardworking people—the Government of Canada is helping to ensure that the economic growth we create is the kind of growth that works for everyone.

Today, the Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour announced that the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia have signed agreements that will see Canada provide Nova Scotia with over $700 million over six years to invest in Nova Scotia’s workers. These agreements represent an increase in funding of over $70 million over the period, compared to previous funding levels. This increase means an estimated 17,000 more Nova Scotian workers will benefit over the six years.

Speaking at the YMCA Nova Scotia Works Employment Centre, MP Brison said that these agreements will significantly increase the jobs and skills training available to people in Nova Scotia, including literacy and high school completion programs for adults, services to increase the participation of immigrants in the workforce and more.

Through these new agreements, the Government of Canada is ensuring more people benefit from these programs than before—including people from groups typically under‑represented in our workforce, such as people with disabilities, women and Indigenous people.

As innovation and technology continue to change how we live and work, people in Nova Scotia and across Canada are met with new challenges and new opportunities. That is why it is more important than ever before to ensure everybody has the opportunity to benefit from an innovation-driven economy—and that means ensuring that both employed and unemployed people have opportunities to acquire the skills they will need for the jobs of today as well as the jobs of tomorrow.

The agreements announced today are the new Workforce Development Agreement (WDA) and the Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA). In the first two years Nova Scotia will receive approximately $235 million—more than $46 million through the WDA and more than $188 million through the LMDA.

Results matter. That is why these agreements include a commitment to performance measurement. That means that Canada and Nova Scotia will be able to measure how programs are increasing people’s earnings, helping them get jobs that last, and breaking down barriers for under‑represented groups like Indigenous people, people with disabilities and women. The Government of Canada will be reporting to Canadians on the impacts of these programs, so that they are transparent and so that they can be continually improved.

The WDA will help Nova Scotia deliver training and services, such as:

• The Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning (NSSAL): this school funds and coordinates tuition-free educational programs in English and French for adult learners ranging from basic literacy to high school completion.
  
• One Journey Work and Learn Initiative: this initiative connects Departments of Community Services and Labour and Workforce Development, industry and community to provide skills development and direct employment to Income Assistance recipients and the un/under employed by responding to an industry-identified skills shortage.  This effort matches individuals currently unattached to the labour market to market demands, reducing income support dependence, labour shortages and ultimately, structural unemployment.
  
• Move to Work Program: this program provides opportunities to support Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) Program participants and those individuals at risk of becoming attached to the ESIA Program transition to work.
  
• Labour Market Integration Program: this program works with the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration to assist organizations providing services for immigrants – to increase their participation in the workforce, enhance the quality of skills development programs available to them, facilitate upward workforce mobility, and provide the information necessary to help immigrants make informed labour market choices.

Funding under the LMDA will allow Nova Scotia to help more people and more employers meet their needs, though measures such as:

• START: this program encourages employers to hire Nova Scotians requiring work experience or apprenticeship support by offering wage incentives, resulting in good jobs for Nova Scotians and good employees for employers.  Financial incentives vary depending on the type of employment offered, the skill level of the employee, and could include a retention bonus.
  
• Skills Development: through Skills Development, eligible unemployed or underemployed Nova Scotians receive the funding required to attend training and skills development programs at recognized post-secondary institutions.
  
• Employment Assistance Services: funding is provided to 18 external service providers to deliver career and employment services to help clients to obtain employment. This support measure forms the basis of the new Nova Scotia Works approach to integrated service delivery for all Nova Scotians. Nova Scotia Works centers are the entry point for all Nova Scotians seeking service from Employment Nova Scotia, including those who are not EI eligible.  Practitioners provide direct services such as career counselling, resume development, workshops, etc. and also make referrals for specific funded programs that are administered by ENS staff based on a valid return to work action plan.

Every Canadian deserves a fair and equal chance at success in the workforce. Through smart investments like the provincial agreements announced today, we can strengthen our middle class and help more of the people working so hard to join it.