The province is trying to get more people back to work.
Second Career funding helps laid-off, unemployed workers pay for the tuition of training programs of 52 weeks duration or less, including eligible university and college courses, micro-credential programs and other vocational training programs.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton says increasing financial supports through the Second Career program will help make it easier for laid-off and unemployed workers get trained and start new, better careers.
“As we recover, we need to raise everyone up, not go back to where we were before COVID-19,” McNaughton says. “Our investment of more than $80-million in the Second Career program is one way we’re doing this.”
The program was first introduced in 2008. Improvements were made in December 2020, and now tweaked again to speed up the application process and reduce the amount of paperwork needed.
The program also increases basic living supports for rent, mortgage, and other expenses up to $500 a week, and transportation and child care supports are being enhanced to better reflect the costs people face.
“In the past in Second Career, there’s been little to no support in the weekly living allowance, so this is a major change,” McNaughton explains. “Also, a real focus on ensuring we can help women re-enter the workforce as quickly as possible.”
Stats show in the first five months of 2021, 2092 workers started training through Second Career, an increase of 109% compared to the same period a year before.
