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;' www-mmnmwn ; S m e e gra e l a o o a a l e Skllls tram mg and matching workers tOJObS a siren: focus of budget By [10an the federal govemment has made Chronicle Stag some important investments in - this area. i ore than the money allot- ‘There's not a lot of new spend- : M ted in last week‘s federal ing. but what they've taken and 3 budget, the Harper gov- reallocated. they’ve made some a ernment seems to be signaling a pretty reasonable decisions to i sea of change in its approach to invest in skills and development ; skills training and development. and training,” said McLean. “We ‘ And it couldn't have come soon know skills are changing every day enough said John Trbbits. president and its important to work in pan- of Conestoga College, who has nership with employers to make been advocating for a skills acceler- sure to deliver the new skills.” ator centre locally to match all the _" A renewal of funding for the ‘ high skill jobs available with people r - Southwestern Ontario Fed Devel- still looking for work out of the 2008 .. opment Agency. based out of Kitchâ€" ? recession. ener, is also important in continu- " “We've been talking about this E “5.5 ing to fund innovation and expan- for a long time,“ said Tibbits. about " ion of new business in the region 1 providing opportunities for people “The FedDev part is about to develop employable skills. “We investing in innovation and tech- are certainly starting to notice a difâ€" nology and entrepreneurship and ference in the conversation the last taking a lot of those advancements ‘ few years. and this is another step i and put them in together with sup- 1 in the right direction.” 1 1. a porting manufacturing.’ said , Tibbits said Finance Minister McLean. “The manufacturing that Jim Flaherty has been talking for ‘3 left locally is advanced manufac- months about the skills mismatch tilting. so it has to leverage efficien- that has resulted in high youth cyandnewtechnology. unemployment while at the same , , "I think when you put all these time employers looking to sustain Last Thursday's federal W Inducted a new Canada Job Grant that wit help skits “our“ and Wage things together were getting the the economic recovery can't find future workers to match their skill set with job openings. That move and others is seen as a positive by Conestoga rig“ types ofskills for the jobs that enough skilled workers in College President John TIbbits in addressing the skills shortage. Munro areavailable.’ advanced manufacturing and the mom MPP Peter Braid said skilled tradestofillopen positions lastThursdayinadditiontothe ingpartnershipbetweenthefeder- mebcumflaandawlmlesedes thingllketheextensbnofthecao The concem is the skills shortage is CanadalobsGiant. whichwill over- al govemment, the provinces and ohms in advanced manufactur- ital cost allowance will also allow threatening Canada‘s long-term haul how Ottawa funds skills trainâ€" private sector employers. ing if we had a greater supply of local manufacturers to purchase prosperity and slowing the ing, 'l'lbbits said there were also 3 students that had the prerequisites and upgrade equipment that will economic recovery number of other iriitiatim that will Tibbits said Conestoga College that are needed to get accepted improve their productivity and effi- “That by itself has been a huge help colleges boost innovation and has grown dramatically over the into those programs." said 'libbits cienq. help for us even if there wasn't a job creation. They include: past fewyears to meet some of that “We think this b an important ini- "It will make sure they continue dollar in there to spend." said lib- need and isn't advocating just for tiative. to invest and upgrade in new bits. ‘The fact that he’s signaling - A $12 million increase to the more enrollment. Numbers aren't “In the last ll years we've pro- machinery. improve their produc- next year when those labour Force College and Community lnnova- the problem, it's getting more peo- ,dumd “,0!!!er in Canada tivity and create new jobs.‘ said Market agreements are up for rene- tion program to support better col- ple to see college as a legitimate in arts and social sdence program- Braid. “The Canada Jobs Grant is gotiation with the provinces that laboration and research between option over university and chang- ming, but only lBNelders. It’s also important public policy that there might be an opportunity to collegesand industry. ing the perception of skill training just out of whack." , will address the skills shortage in put more of those resources into 0 Dedicated funding to promote that is achallenge Ian Mean. p t and CEO Canada. actual training education in high-demand fields. The federal budget should help of the Greater Kit ener Waterloo “Locally we have a shortage of “He's made it pretty clear that particularly the skilled trades shift that perception. Chamber of Commerce. who has high-tech workers We have to do a we need to put more of it into train~ ' increased opportunities for “We could produce so many been advocating for more support better job of aligning open posi- ing, and we'd certainly agree.” apprentices. including a new fund- more graduates in computer sci- for the manufacturing sector said tions with available workers.” : » i .» n - ,«~, ‘ H V ,_ . ~ . ,. . z >~ _» may - who . .- _‘ ., ‘35?“ if?“ i ; ’ »- " V a; 1 .. ‘ If??? WE. ' V -‘ up, "gftf- ._ . N . : 3.». ' 5": J ‘ » . ‘ - _ . :33 :6 ‘ggfigsfzfi‘a 3.; “a? r i .- 54. g. .1 " fii « v its? ‘ ‘ ‘ ~' ‘ M5 -' ”has ' ‘ t _ u, .. is“ 3s . GOOD FRIDAY ammo ' ;.... , , , . . 1 . s a) . “2 z '5 A 5 ' a ‘ f 1 Z 3: i ‘ . an; ”‘22, 1 x .t; as“ Q71 ‘ z ‘ 5 3.7,“: 531-5; «a: V , . o st in} =3 ; V a“ H ’»*5 f' ‘ \ ’ - ‘ "15‘5”" ~ , .3 '.. “ ( h" a ’ ‘ .‘ c“ I ' ' 9 ‘z;r*-1"u w . 4‘ t v