Surrey Board of Trade Applauds Prime Minister Harper’s Announcement Today of the Canada Apprentice Loan Program
The Surrey Board of Trade was present at today’s announcement at BCIT – Annacis Island where Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the Canada Apprentice Loan program.
“This will enhance the much needed support for skilled trades training, ensuring our industries and resource sectors have the skilled labour that they need. If Canada is to successfully tackle its skills gap and ensure its economic growth, we have to give special attention to the largest cohort of labour force entrants each year: young people. There is a growing understanding that closing the skills gap means better aligning our education and training systems to our labour market needs. The Canada Apprentice Loan Program is an important ingredient in the overall recipe,” said Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade.
Canada is falling short in addressing the current and future skills requirements of the workplace. Critically, we need to increase training spaces to ensure sufficient qualified replacement workers for the retiring workforce and to meet anticipated growth in labour needs in BC. This initiative will help those already apprenticing to complete their training and encourage more Canadians to pursue a career in the skilled trades, allowing participants to take advantage of the many job opportunities across Canada.
The Canada Apprentice Loan Program, which was introduced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2014, will provide apprentices in Red Seal trades across Canada with access to interest-free loans. These loans will help apprentices address the costs they encounter during technical training, including educational fees, tools and equipment, living expenses and forgone wages. The Canada Student Loans Program, within the Employment and Social Development Canada Ministry, will manage this initiative.
Apprentices registered in a Red Seal trade apprenticeship will be able to apply for loans of up to $4,000 per period of technical training. The loans are interest-free until after loan recipients complete or leave their apprenticeship-training program, for up to a maximum of six years.
Those interested in applying for the Canada Apprentice Loan can do so through the Canada Apprentice Loan Online Service, which is available through Canada.ca/apprentice.
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