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Encouraging Canadians to Enter the Trades: PM Announces New Apprenticeship Completion Grant Program
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Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
Last week, leaders of the G-20 countries met in London to discuss the progress made since our last meeting in November on combating the global recession, as well as to map out the next steps of the international response.
I laid out the measures Canada has taken to provide stimulus and to sustain economic activity during this global recession.
In particular, I highlighted the national Economic Action Plan laid out in January's Budget.
Our plan is significantly large than the two per cent of GDP proposed by the International Monetary Fund.
We will take whatever actions are necessary in the short term to help Canadians weather the global recession.
But we are also looking at the future, because we know that eventually and inevitably a recovery will take hold.
And when it does, Canada is going to need hundreds of thousands of skilled tradesmen and women.
And projections on the emerging labour force of the next couple of decades are clear:
that if tradespeople work hard, embrace new technologies and stay current in their expertise they will have long and successful careers.
That's why I'm here today at NAIT.
Today, I'm pleased to highlight a real, practical incentive our Government is providing to those who complete an apprenticeship in a Red Seal trade.
Under our Economic Action Plan, a successful Red Seal apprentice is now eligible for a two thousand dollar completion bonus.
It is estimated that up to twenty thousand apprentices per year will benefit from this measure.
Earlier today, I met with some students here at NAIT who will soon be eligible to apply for the grant.
We talked about the Red Seal grant, along with some of the other measures our Government has taken to encourage those considering a career in the trades, including:
- the thousand-dollar per year Apprenticeship Incentive Grant to help with schooling costs,
- the Job Creation Tax Credit to reward employers who hire apprentices,
- and our tax credit to tradespeople for the costs of their tools.
These are tangible benefits our Government is providing to real people like the students here, and we will see real results from these investments.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to make it clear once again that today's announcement is not simply encouraging those who choose a career in the trades.
It is about more fundamentally where we are headed as a country.
As the world struggles with the effects of this global recession, we as Canadians are looking ahead.
Despite the rising unemployment, we see today, the demographic reality is this: as soon as this global recession ends, our country will face a long-run challenge of labour shortage.
Our Economic Action Plan is making the investments necessary today, in order to ensure that we have the workers we need tomorrow and that our young people take advantage of those opportunities.
By looking to the future, and giving these incentives to students and workers today, we are seizing the opportunities that will get us through these tough times, and ensure that our country emerges stronger than ever.
Thank you.
