Government of Canada's Ontario announces new measures to support apprentices

TORONTO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The government of Canada's Ontario province announced on Thursday an investment of 8.3 million Canadian dollars (8.06 million U.S. dollars) to provide additional help for local apprentices, employers, and training providers.

"More Ontarians than ever are entering the skilled trades to support their families," said Premier Dalton McGuinty. "We're committed to helping them succeed. These additional measures will help Ontario's apprentices train to fill high skill, high quality jobs in the future."

According to the plan announced on Thursday, when training is successfully completed, apprentices will get grants of up to 2,000Canadian dollars (1,942 U.S. dollars) and employer 1,000 Canadian dollars (971 U.S. dollars).

Apprentices are also given choice to complete more of their in-school training up front if work placements are temporarily unavailable. Grants of up to 1,500 Canadian dollars (1,456 U.S. dollars) per term are to be provided to help apprentices with the cost of school if they are not eligible for employment insurance.

These steps are part of the government's plan to strengthen Ontario's apprenticeship and skilled trades system, to ensure the province has the skilled workers it needs to succeed in tomorrow's economy.

There are 120,000 Ontario apprentices learning a trade today, nearly 60,000 more than the figure in 2003.