Canada’s federal budget 2019 allocates funding to provide a tool to help workers keep their skills up to date and in demand.
In order to deliver the new Canada Training Benefit, the feds propose to invest more than $1.7 billion over five years, starting in 2019–20, and $586.5 million per year ongoing.
What you need to know about the new job training programs:
Canada Training Credit
A new, non-taxable credit balance to help Canadians with the cost of training fees. Eligible workers between the ages of 25 and 64 would accumulate a credit balance at a rate of $250 per year, up to a lifetime limit of $5,000. The credit could be used to refund up to half the costs of taking a course or enrolling in a training program.
Employment Insurance Training Support Benefit
Up to four weeks of income support through the Employment Insurance (EI) system. This benefit, expected to launch in late 2020, would help workers on training leave and not receiving their regular paycheque cover their living expenses, such as rent, utilities and groceries.
To ensure that the Training Support Benefit workers for employers as well as workers, Budget 2019 also proposes to introduce an EI Small Business Premium Rebate to offset the upward pressure on the employer premium rate for small businesses resulting from the introduction of the new EI Training Support Benefit.
Leave provisions
The Government of Canada intends to protect workers’ ability to take time away from work to pursue training.
The government plans to consult with provinces and territories on the design of the new Canada Training Benefit, to ensure that workers can take the time they need for training, knowing that they’ll have a job to come back to when their training is done.
“The nature of work is changing around the world. Jobs are becoming more skill-intensive, and workers will need a greater ability to adapt throughout their careers,” said Mary Ng, minister of small business and export promotion in a press release.
“With Budget 2019, the Government is helping Canadian workers – present and future –adapt to the economy of tomorrow. Our investments will ensure Canadians have the education, skills and experience they need to find and keep the good jobs being created each year.”
For more information on how to use the Canada Training Benefit visit https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/good-jobs-de-bons-emplois-en.html.
