Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I wanted to ask now about some funding that's been moved around, and I just was wondering if the Minister can help me understand it.
But the Labour Market Development Agreement has moved from fund one to fund three, and I'm unsure what this means and so I'm wondering if the Minister can explain this to me? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. So the Office of the Auditor General, they look at, you know, our financials and they recommended that we make that adjustment. So we are moving that contribution from work performed on behalf of others to operations to more accurately reflect how it is used. So it's an accounting thing to make sure that we're more transparent and more clear. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will pass the floor other to another colleague.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go back to trades and occupations. Is that program, is it fully subscribed or is there still funds lapsing? Thank you.
Minister of ECE.
Thank you. It's not quite fully subscribed but it's not like there's no uptake at all. So we are getting close to the maximum there. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And the Minister had mentioned that there was I think approximately 300 recipients of that program right now. Can the Minister tell me, I guess the success, like what's the retention, I guess, rate and seeing some of the apprentices get through and how many are we losing, and why? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.
Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So in the past, we did have some challenges in apprentices definitely had some challenges in completing the programs after they were registered. We continue to work on that. We've introduced a number of supports in the last year, such as the virtual learning strategist and the build your skills. Those are intended to help apprentices get through their technical training. And that seems to be the area where they struggle if they're going to. And generally we're still seeing good numbers as far as completions, and we're still certifying year over year many of our apprentices that we are registering. But there are a few that are struggling and so that's why we've of course been looking at supports for them. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, we hear, I guess, constantly from contractors that, you know, they have trouble hiring people with skills and more so trades people. Is there any special initiatives, I guess, that you're looking the government's looking at, the department's looking at, to encourage, I guess, more basic training and also trying to get more people into the trades? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. So as part of the transformation of Aurora College, we are trying to expand access to training and education. A lot of those issues that the Members are talking about are, you know, issues that need to be addressed before someone really moves into the academic part of apprenticeships. As Mr. Saturnino mentioned, there are some new programs as well to help apprentices get the skills they need to make their way through the program. And from what I've heard directly from the people who have been engaged in those, they've been very, very valuable. So I encourage anyone who might be struggling to access those. Perhaps I can hand it to the deputy minister for some more detail. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy minister MacDonald.
Thank you, Madam Chair. ECE has also applied to and received funding from the federal Department of Employment and Social Development Canada for what's called Skills 4 Success Funding Program. And this funding has been in turn transferred to Aurora College and in another instance to the literacy council for programs such as what the Member mentioned. So in the case of Aurora College, it's really to develop curriculum and the mechanisms to be able to support apprenticeships. So that's exactly what that is intended to do. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know in the past, I guess I'm thinking about DJ, a school in Hay River, where I guess through the shop program they would you know, they built small tiny homes or houses. I guess they weren't really small but, you know, they might have been singlebedrooms. But is that something that I don't see it happening anymore so is that something that the schools may be looking at or something the department is encouraging schools to look at, you know, in a way to encourage students to take up trades as, you know, way of life I guess? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. So that's a program that a school can run if it wishes to. They have that flexibility. One of the biggest barriers to programs like that are having teachers who also happen to be, say, journey persons. So they are in short demand; you know, skilled labour and skilled labour who are also teachers. It's a rare combination so that really is the biggest barrier. But if a school board has you know, they want to do that, they can do it if they can get the teaching resources. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I was just looking at, you know you know, we got Building Skills 4 Success, we've got Skills Canada, we've got Small Community Employment Workforce Development Agreement. Like, is most is all that money being spent and how much is actually going or an approximate, I guess, amount actually going to businesses on the ground to support them in training and hiring apprentices, hiring, you know, labour? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you. Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As the Member referenced a number of different programs, perhaps I'll just quickly touch on each.
So the Building Skills 4 Success is the initiative that DM MacDonald spoke of, which is the funding for the literacy council and the college. So that's been provided to those organizations.
The Workforce Development Agreement is a funding agreement that we use to fund employers and clients and as well as community organizations. It is in for example, if we're looking at 20212022, we spent about 90 percent of that budget and we carried over the remainder. So those funds are being provided. And we do have employer programs for wage subsidy and training. As well as small communities, we've expended the majority of those funds as well. So working very closely with our organizations and communities. And I believe we have almost all of our designated community authorities that are administering those funds on behalf of ECE. So a lot of these funds are going toward employers and if they're not, they're going to individual clients. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go to career development and training. So can the Minister just, I guess, give me some background on that because, you know, like I've dealt with, I guess, a number of people who have, I guess, worked for me in the past and some of the things that, you know, that I found was that, you know, sometimes it worked out for somebody and sometimes it just wasn't the right place or the right type of job for them. Is that something this career development looks at? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.
Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, yes, we do have career development officers that are throughout all of the regions. So they're on the ground working with clients, working with employers, working with community partners and so they do provide those career development services to the general public. And we do have a career development and training line in the budget here, which is $30,000, and that's really intended to be used for projects, career development projects. So in the past, we've used that for projects and programs administered by the Mine Training Society. We've used it for other purposes. But, essentially, it's a little bit of a pot of funding that we can use if we have a project in particular that would support skills development in the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. One thing I find is that, you know, with career development offices and that, they got a lot of paperwork to do, a lot of administration to do, and I know before I used to get them out into the work site and give them an idea of what they were spending money on and what they were approving. Is that something that's being done more so now or encouraged? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Yes, absolutely. And as I travel around the territory to the different regions, I speak to the career development officers and they talk about their ontheground engagement with industry and with Indigenous governments as well. Thank you.
Thank you. Anything further? Member for Hay River South.
Well, I'll just sit silent here for the next 27 seconds. That's all.
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister provide an update on when we anticipate the new board for Aurora College being instated? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. I expect an announcement next week and all of the instruments to establish the board to all be completed this month. Thank you.
All right. Member for Yellowknife North.
Awesome, very happy to hear that stuff is being caught up. I was very excited to see the announcement of the return of the social work/teacher program as well as kind of some work for a general arts and science program. Do we have an estimated cost for reinstating those programs? Thank you.
