The Canadian Welding Association is happy with the federal government’s initiatives for skills development outlined in the recent 2016 budget, “Growing the Middle Class.”
“As Canada’s largest and only welding membership driven organization, we are delighted with the federal government’s recent budget announcement with regards to enhanced infrastructure spending, sound investment of funds for educational, employment and skills development,” says Dan Tadic, executive director of the CWA. “This budget is indicative of the federal government’s commitment to creating employment – including for our members and the Canadian welding industry through infrastructure spending while focusing on building a skilled workforce through various initiatives.”
Welding in Canada is a critical part of industry, contributing over $5 billion to the Canadian economy and employing over 300,000 individuals. Without welding, most of the things we take for granted would not exist, such as cars, bridges, buildings, trains, pacemakers and even smart phones.
With a looming shortage of qualified welders, training has never been such a critical issue. “We look forward to working with the Federal Government to bring awareness to the importance of investing in skills development and why it’s critical to ensure reliable source of highly trained skilled workers to ensure future projects can be completed,” he says.
Budget Highlights:
- Government investment of $120 billion in infrastructure over 10 years in two phases.
- $2.24 billion over five years to First Nations communities for improvements to reserve water and wastewater infrastructure and waste management.
- Keep the income tax rate of 10. 5 percent on the first $500,000 of active business income for small businesses.
- $2 billion over three years for new post-secondary strategic investment fund.
- The Canada Student Grant amounts will increase by 50 percent which will cost $790 million over 5 years.
- Additional $125 million in 2016-17 for Labour Market Development Agreements and additional $50 million in 2016-17 for Canada Job Fund Agreements to help unemployed and underemployed Canadians access training.
- $85.4 million to develop new framework for union-based apprenticeship training.
- Increasing the maximum daily residency deduction to $22 from $16.50 effective January 1, 2016 to draw skilled labour to northern and isolated communities.
- Additional $165.4 million for the Youth Employment Strategy.
- Launch of the Post-Secondary Industry Partnership and Cooperative Placement Initiative supporting partnerships between industry and youth.
- $15 million over two years to launch a pilot project to enhance the Aboriginal Skill and Employment Training Strategy to align with community needs.
- $130 million over five years to support Research and Development and demonstration activities
