Question Period Note: COMMUNITY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

What action is the federal government taking to support worker transitions from declining to growth areas?

• Canada’s future prosperity relies on a skilled workforce that can pivot quickly to seize new opportunities.
• Budget 2021 committed $55 million over three years, starting in 2021-2022, for the Community Workforce Development Program.
• The program takes a place-based approach to supporting communities with workforce planning and skills training.
• Its goal is to help jobseekers and workers develop the skills to transition into jobs where they are needed.
• 13 projects are currently being funded with activities in over 100 rural and remote communities across Canada.
• They focus on advancing national and regional priorities through local leadership, including the transition to a low-carbon economy and a range of sectors (e.g., residential construction, ocean technologies, etc.).

• Economic diversification has been a long-standing issue for many Canadian communities. Many rely on a small number of core industries to sustain themselves which increases their susceptibility to market volatility and exposes workers to potential employment insecurity.
• A Future Skills Council report recommended reinforcing community-based approaches to developing and implementing workforce strategies that help community members develop skills for emerging in demand jobs.
• The Horizontal Skills Review of federal programming, led by the Treasury Board Secretariat (2019), underscored the effectiveness of demand-driven training strategies, and recommended a greater focus on training that responds to the specific skill needs of employers and industry.
• The Community Workforce Development Program puts communities at the heart of determining their economic futures. It is a pilot to test community-based approaches to workforce planning and skills training to support local economic development and growth. It also includes a focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and the participation of under-represented groups in the labour market.
• The program encourages collaboration between employers, training providers, community organizations and others to:
o support community workforce planning by:
 bringing organizations together from across industries and sectors
 identifying high growth areas
 finding local sources of labour to meet employer demand;
o help jobseekers and workers develop the skills needed through training and on-the-job work experiences, and
o support employers to fill jobs in demand.

• With an emphasis on diversity and inclusion, the program requires funding recipients to ensure that a minimum of 75% of their total participants identify as belonging to one or more of the following under-represented groups in the labour market: Women, Youth, Persons with Disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, Newcomers, Official Language Minority Communities, Black Canadians and other racialized individuals, older workers, and/or individuals identifying as LGBTQ2+.

Investment
• Budget 2021 provided $55 million over three years starting in 2021-2022, for the Community Workforce Development Program. The program tests community-based approaches to support the transition of workers from declining industries to growth areas.
• The program will assess the effectiveness of the model to drive results in a diversity of labour markets. Evidence gathered will inform future directions.

Results

• Through the Community Workforce Development Program, Budget 2021 committed to support approximately 2,500 workers, 250 employers, and 25 communities.
• The program advances national and regional priorities through local leadership, with a focus on rural and remote communities, in areas such as decarbonization, technology adoption and the blue economy.
• In spring 2022, the Department undertook an intake for the program that resulted in 13 approved projects, 7 under the regional stream and 6 under the national stream that reach over 100 communities across the country.

• Following the Budget 2023 announcement regarding refocusing government spending, projects were renegotiated to half of their initial duration.
• Projects began in spring/summer 2023 and the majority will end March 31, 2024. Four projects led by Indigenous organizations will end by March 31, 2025.