Province providing $1.25M for free training
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The Ontario government will help fund a new job training program geared toward Northern Ontario’s tourism industry.
Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton announced Thursday the province would provide $1.25 million, through Destination Northern Ontario, to provide 300 people with free training and match them with at least 150 employers.
Those workers would be trained virtually for new positions starting in June and running through to September. Employers also would be reimbursed 30 per cent of each worker’s salary up to $3,000.
Tourism employers in Nipissing District would be eligible to participate.
“This means 300 more people not worrying about filling up their cars with fuel, 300 more families buying all the groceries they need without hesitation, 300 more members of these communities waking up with pride because they have a job to do and a team depending on them,” McNaughton said.
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He said while leisure and travel businesses have suffered disproportionately because of the pandemic, increased vaccinations and Ontarians opting to travel within the province is expected to lead to a spike in tourism in Northern Ontario.
McNaughton was joined by his parliamentary assistant Burlington MPP Jane McKenna, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Industries Lisa MacLeod and Destination Northern Ontario executive director David MacLachlan.
The project, called Tourism SkillsNet North, is aimed at people who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19 and will include training for positions in customer service, front desk reception, guest services and housekeeping.
Other partners include the Ontario Tourism Education Corp., Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario, District Social Services Administration Boards, Indigenous Tourism Ontario and Northern Ontario Workforce Planning Boards.
The funding is being provided through the province’s $115-million Skills Development Fund.
The province says in 2020, employment in Northern Ontario declined by 13,900 jobs, or 3.9 per cent, with the unemployment rate at 7.8 per cent, while tourism-related industries in the province lost a combined 141,000 jobs between February 2020 and April 2021.
Before the pandemic, the province says Ontario’s $36-billion tourism industry supported more than 390,000 jobs.
Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development spokesperson Kalem McSween said Destination Northern Ontario, which represents roughly 4,000 tourism businesses, including 1,400 accommodators in Northern Ontario, will work with employers who use the services of the Employment Ontario Network and northern District Social Services Administration Boards.
This will allow Destination Northern Ontario to reach as many employers as possible within Regional Tourism Area 13, he said. The region includes Northeastern Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma and Northwest Ontario.
Employers will be selected through an application and assessment process.
Interested applicants, including employers and participants, can contact their local Employment Ontario office, District Social Services Administrative Board or Destination Northern Ontario.
mlee@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mtaylorlee
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