CALGARY, ALBERTA, September 7, 2010 - On behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for the North, today announced $12 million in funding to the Contaminates Remediation Training Organization of Canada (CRTOC) for its Caring for the Land project. Based out of Calgary, Alberta, this project will provide training opportunities for Aboriginal people, primarily in the North. The project is funded by the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership program, which is supported under Canada's Economic Action Plan.
"Canada's Economic Action Plan is making a difference by ensuring that Aboriginal people have the training and skills development they need to fully share in current and future economic opportunities," said Minister Aglukkaq. "This project will help accomplish this by providing training for up to 600 Aboriginal people, leading to hundreds of long-term employment opportunities."
The Caring for the Land project is a formalized partnership comprised of representatives from Aboriginal organizations and communities, the environmental remediation sector, educational institutions and the Government of Canada. This project will help Aboriginal people participate in the clean-up of federal contaminated sites that have been identified throughout Canada. The project will provide community-based training to address emerging labour and skills shortages, and will respond to private sector willingness to invest in the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal people.
"The CRTOC will encourage employers and the Aboriginal community to work together to develop a competent contaminates sites workforce for the future. The skills and knowledge acquired by the Aboriginal participants will be transferable to other sectors of the economy when the contaminates sites activities have been completed. It is a win-win situation for all partners," said Mr. Grant Trump, President and Chief Executive Officer, Environmental Careers Organization of Canada.
The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership program promotes partnerships between the Government of Canada, other levels of government, local organizations and employers. It provides on-the-job training that leads to long term jobs in high demand professions such as mining, hydro development, fisheries, tourism, construction and infrastructure. Canada's Economic Action Plan provided an additional $100 million in funding over three years for this program to create more and better opportunities for Aboriginal people.
More information about Canada's Economic Action Plan can be found at www.actionplan.gc.ca.
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For further information (media only):
Michelle Bakos
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership Program
The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program is a nationally managed, opportunity-driven, project-based initiative that promotes increased participation of Aboriginal people in major economic developments through formalized partnerships between Aboriginal organizations and the private sector. The provinces and territories also contribute to the projects, and all partners must contribute at least 50 percent of the total cost of the project. The ASEP program supports multi-year training-to-employment strategies leading to long-term jobs for Aboriginal people in existing and emerging industries.
ASEP was initially launched in 2003 as an $85-million, five-year program supporting nine projects that resulted in over 7 500 Aboriginal people receiving training, with more than 3 500 of them finding long-term sustainable jobs. In 2007, the ASEP program was extended until 2012, with an additional $105 million supporting 16 more projects. Canada's Economic Action Plan is providing an additional $100 million over three years to help Aboriginal people participate in the workforce and make the most of employment opportunities.
