Thank you, and I thank the deputy minister for her answer. However, we are talking six months in. We have missed the summertime. We have missed a lot of opportunities for people in the small communities to do work, and that is a challenge. So if the department can't do it, can we look at another department, give the money to MACA or Finance so they can get that money to the Aboriginal communities so people can get to work as of April 1st? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have seen some success in this program. I do believe we had 200 people in the last fiscal year do onthejob training, and then an additional 69 through some of the community projects. So it is being utilized. We also have to make sure that our communities also take some of that responsibility in getting some of their residents employed, and that is where we have the partnerships on community projects as well as the wage subsidy. So we want to work with employers, we want to work with our stakeholders, in getting our residents into jobs. We have seen it work. We have seen it happen. I know that on April 1st we will see some of these dollars flowing out to the smallest communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Committee, we will take a short recess.
SHORT RECESS
Thank you, committee. I will call the committee back to order. Any further questions from committee? I see none. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Bear with me, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to get myself back in order here. One of the things that I wanted to ask about is the apprenticeships. Let us go into the area of apprenticeships. We indicated in the business plan that the Student North Apprenticeship Program is something that we were going to roll out in high schools across the territory. Maybe I will start by asking what the status of what is known as SNAP, what the status of the SNAP program is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are rolling that program out. I do not have the specifics on how many schools are offering the program right now. Obviously, there are some challenges when you look at that program in terms of classroom space, or space that allows for people to practise kind of apprenticeships moving forward. We are, just to let the Members know, developing an apprenticeship, trades, and occupational strategy. Once we have got through approval, we can do a presentation to standing committee. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If the department could provide us some additional information with regard to the program in terms of what the rollout is looking like, and what the uptake is, if there is interest amongst those in the territory? We see more recently some declining numbers in trades and trade apprenticeships, so I think, as part of our big overarching education development goals going forward, that we certainly want to start to align students' interests with potential opportunities in the trades, at least in the high school years, arguably even sooner. I would certainly like to get some information around the Student North Apprenticeship Program so I can know better what kind of success it is having, if it is something we really want to continue to support going forward or put more resources in to going forward.
That leads me also into the funding line item for Skills Canada on page 45. If I can get some clarification on the 2015-16, we made a contribution of $150,000, and then last year in proposing for this year it's down to $70,000. If I can get clarification from the department, that would be appreciated? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and we can definitely get that information, more updated information, for the Member on the SNAP program. That program, I would like to say, aligns very well with our Skills 4 Success, but also on another point, you know, the Pathways to Graduation and helping those students who want to get into a trade. That year, I think in 2015-16 actuals we were able to put more money into the pot for Skills Canada, I think. Because there was other funding that lapsed in other areas within the department, we were actually able to put more investment for that year. Thank you
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So traditionally, is this the total amount that we contribute to Skills Canada every year typically around $70,000 or do we have other pots that Skills Canada is able to access as well? It just seems to me that an area of such importance to our goals and objectives as a government in terms of beefing up our trade skills, that this is an organization that we certainly would want to be supportive. So I'm just wondering: are there pots that Skills Canada is accessing as well? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, typically this is the amount of funding that we give to Skills Canada. We've seen some very excellent results out of that, apprentices, people getting into the trades that they wanted to work in that have gone through NWT Skills Canada. Currently, I'm not sure if there's any other funding within the department that they might be able to access, but that's something that we can look into as we continue to work with Skills Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for that. I want to just skip over to the small community employment for a moment. I think there's not anybody in the room here who isn't grateful for the significant increase in this contribution. There have been a number of questions, however, on how it will be expanded. Of course, committee wants to see a commitment of this money going directly into employment opportunities. The Minister talked about, you know, community partnerships, and I'm wondering if he can explain a little bit more what that looks like and what exactly do we mean by community partnerships? Are we talking about work experience opportunities? Are we talking about mentorships? Are there apprenticeship opportunities? What does community partnerships mean? How do we intend to go from -- you know, normally it was only spending somewhere in the neighbourhood of about $340,000 to $400,000 a year and we're attaching three more million to it. I'm very interested to know how we intend to fully disburse those funds and not end up with half of it or more coming back? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned, we do offer a wage subsidy. Under the community initiatives we provide project-based training through partnerships with small community governments and organizations. The training may be formal or on-the-job or a combination of both. Projects are targeted to meet current and future labour force needs and enhance the employability of residents. As I mentioned earlier, we had 200 individuals participate in the training on the job and then 69 through formal training opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we say "subsidies," I mean, I understand that to be that, if an employer were to apply for this funding, that obviously so much dollars per hour are going to be allocated to help offset the hourly rate to pay an employee. Can the department expand a little bit and tell us, you know, what does the subsidy entail? Is it going to be that so many dollars will actually be paid for by the government on that person's hourly wage, and if so, how many dollars per hour? What does the subsidy look like and how does one apply for it and get it, et cetera? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The training-on-the-job, the wage subsidy is a program that helps employers employ our residents of the Northwest Territories. There is a big focus on youth, though. For anybody who might be listening and want to listen to the wage subsidy, I encourage them to talk to a client service officer or a career development officer to get that information. Our wage subsidy, I do believe we provide 80 per cent of the wage, and then we ask an employer to look at the other 20 per cent. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the clarification. Mr. Chair, I'll go to a quick question here. You know what, I'll forego for now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Next we have Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just a couple of questions that I'm looking for clarification on. On the college contributions, the decrease of $1,580,000 on page 45, if that's a reduction in the intake from the two programs that will eventually be cut out -- I think maybe social work immediately this fall, and then the intake for TEP -- is that what the decrease is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, that's not from the intake. As I mentioned, we're going to continue to support the students who are in the current program right now for two more years of the social work program and then an additional three years for the TEP program. So no, those aren't the result. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you. Then there is no decrease to this budget as a result of the plan to eliminate those two programs? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As mentioned when Mr. Lovely had explained some of the reductions that were going on this year with the college, those were the ones that were identified, and then for the future years to come. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Beaulieu.
Okay. I'm sorry if I don't feel like it's been clearly explained or if I'm not getting my point across. There's a reduction in college contributions by a certain amount. I'm asking if that reduction has to do with the fact that they're no longer taking in first-year students for TEP because it's going to wind down in the next three years. So I'm assuming that next year we'll only have second-year, third-year, fourth-year students and then another year of social work, because that's also been reduced. So I'm wondering where that is reflected? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lovely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So for 201718, the social work program, the funding will be reduced by $369,000 and then by $369,000 in 201718 for the social work program. Then, in 201819, the Teacher Education Program funding, that will cease in that year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Lovely. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the ADM is telling me that there is no reduction as a result of the plan to eliminate TEP at this point or in this budget. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lovely.
Sorry, Mr. Chair. So I should just clarify. The communitybased teacher education program will be eliminated in 201718, but the actual program that the Member is referring to will be eliminated, the funding will be reduced, in 201819. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Lovely. Mr. Beaulieu.
I will have to try to figure out what that means eventually. So there is a reduction of the communitybased teacher program. Is that right? The communitybased teacher program, I am assuming, is that we are training teachers at the community level and that is being reduced? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister Moses.
Yes, that is correct, with the elimination of the communitybased teacher education program. Maybe for a little bit more detail, I will ask my deputy minister to answer. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Deputy Minister Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As Mr. Lovely indicated, in 201718 the communitybased teacher education program that is currently delivered at the Yellowknife North Slave campus will be eliminated. It is currently funded in the amount of $300,000, so that will be eliminated in 201718. There is the broader Teacher Education Program. The funding reductions for that will commence in 201819 and then continue in 201920. In 201819, it will be $975,000 that will be eliminated and then, in 201920, $325,000 for the Teacher Education Program. For the social work program, in 201718 there will be a reduction of $369,000, and, in 201819, there will be a further reduction of $123,000, for an overall total of $492,000 over those two years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Haener. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to move on to a different topic, Mr. Chair. We were dealing with the small community employment support program and for quite a while in discussions with the department, and then a decision was made by the government to put an additional $3 million into that program, which is excellent. We were under the assumption, however, that the budget was $1.3 million, but we can see from this budget in front of us that the actual budget last year was $339,000 and was carried into this year. Our request initially was to have the overall budget at $5 million, but it seemed fairly acceptable that $4.3 million was something that we could probably live with, but, now that we are seeing that it was actually only $300,000 spent I suppose it must have been spent, or it is revised. I did know it went to $444,000 the previous year, as well. We were always operating with the assumption it was $1 millionplus in there. I am wondering if the Minister could just explain those numbers to us? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
