The federal government has announced it’ll provide $1 million in funding to a program that will help Indigenous trades workers in New Brunswick find work opportunities and apprenticeships.
Wayne Long, MP for Saint John-Rothesay, announced the program on Wednesday morning in Saint John.
The funding will go to MAP Strategic Workforce Services Inc.’s First in Trades program, an attempt to increase Indigenous diversity in New Brunswick trade unions.
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“The First in Trades Program will help Indigenous workers benefit from the mentorship and training that unions and other training organizations are so well equipped to offer,” Long is quoted as saying in a press release.
The federal government says the funding will help open 18 to 20 Indigenous apprenticeship positions in the 14 affiliate unions of the New Brunswick Building Trades Unions, helping to establish and refine cultural and workplace strategies in the trades sector.
It’s estimated that over the next 10 years, roughly 120,000 New Brunswickers will leave the workforce, mostly due to retirement. The federal government says they hope programs like these will help offset that figure.
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The announcement of federal funding comes only two days after a new NBCC facility, specifically tasked with addressing a need for skilled trade workers, was officially opened in Saint John.
New Brunswick contributed $6.65 million to the Trades Education Centre, with the federal government providing $6.74 million.