Ontario Budget 2008: Skills Information
$1.5 Billion Skills to Jobs Action Plan
“We are investing in the skills and education of people so that they have real opportunities for success.”
— Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance
New investments of $1.5 billion over the next three years will build on the government’s strategies for training and postsecondary education. Combined with campus renewal capital investment announced last fall, the government is investing $2 billion in the Skills to Jobs Action Plan.
New Skills for New Careers — $560 million over three years
- $355 million over three years for a new Second Career Strategy to help 20,000 unemployed workers get long-term training for new careers
- Includes Rapid Re-Employment and Training Service to respond to major layoffs
- $75 million over three years to expand apprenticeship
- target of 32,500 new registrants annually — a 25 per cent increase — by 2011–12
- expanded classroom training and pre-apprenticeship training
- new efforts to increase program completions
- support to employers to ensure job placements
- $45 million over three years for the Apprenticeship Enhancement Fund for state-of-the-art training equipment
- almost $30 million for English as a Second Language (ESL) enhancements and additional training services for new Canadians
- $25 million in 2007–08 for employer-based training in the manufacturing sector through the Yves Landry Foundation
- $22.1 million in 2007–08 for the Toyota training centre in Cambridge and $700,000 for research
- $5.6 million in 2007–08 for Chrysler Canada employee training in Etobicoke, Brampton and Windsor
- service delivery to be redesigned to improve access to Employment Ontario.
Student Access, Student Excellence — $465 million over three years
- $385 million over three years for a new Textbook and Technology Grant, or $300 per student when fully in place, benefiting every full-time college and university student annually
- $27 million over three years for a new Distance Grant to assist postsecondary students in rural and remote areas with travel costs
- almost $17 million in 2007–08 for a new research internship program for graduate students through business partners
- more than $16 million in 2007–08 to expand Pathways to Education for at-risk youth
- more than $7 million over three years for an International Ontario Strategy to attract international students
- more than $1 million over three years for Global Edge to provide postsecondary students with international work placements to make connections abroad for successful entrepreneurship in the future
- $3.5 million in 2007–08 for Youth Science Foundation Canada and $1.5 million for Let’s Talk Science to inspire young people to pursue science and technology careers.
Building Places to Learn — $970 million over three years
- $200 million for Strategic Skills Training Capital Investments to expand training centres and capacity
- $200 million in 2007–08 for university campus renewal to maintain and upgrade facilities
- $60 million over three years for the College Equipment and Renewal Fund
- $25 million in 2007–08 to the University of Toronto to establish a new Munk School of International Studies
- $10 million in 2007–08 to the University of Waterloo at Stratford for a new digital media institute
- $9 million in 2007–08 to the Ontario College of Art and Design for a digital media lab
- $464 million included in the 2007 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review for postsecondary campus renewal and strategic capital projects.
