MPP Mike Brown – Queen’s Park Report
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown
Queen’s Park Report
Mike Brown, MPP Algoma-Manitoulin
Laid-Off Ontarians Graduating Into Second Careers
Ontarians are a resilient bunch. No province was hit harder by the global recession than Ontario, but together we pulled through. And working together, we have become what the Conference Board of Canada is predicting will be Canada’s fastest growing economy this year.
Our government made massive stimulus investments in infrastructure, while Ontarians worked as hard as they could to pull our economy forward. In the midst of it all, in 2008, our government launched the Second Career program, a financial assistance program that helps laid-off workers go to school to retrain for careers in high demand sectors. Second Career helps pay the cost of tuition, books, living expenses and other expenses associated with training for a new career. It is a program that has helped to pay real dividends for Ontario families.
Since June 2008, Second Career has helped almost 36,000 laid-off workers. As of this past May 30, over a third of those students have completed their training. More importantly, when surveyed, 61 per cent of Second Career graduates say they found new jobs within an average of three months of graduating. They’ve traded jobs as labourers in manufacturing plants or assemblers in the auto industry for new careers as bookkeepers, heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, community and social service workers and gasfitters.
More than half of Second Career students had a Grade 12 education or less when they entered the program. Today, they are better educated and better equipped for the new economy.
It is all part of the McGuinty government’s Open Ontario plan to build the most highly skilled and educated workforce in the world, giving Ontario the competitive edge in securing a strong economy for the future. Our government’s Open Ontario plan will raise the number of Ontarians with a postsecondary education and training credential to 70 per cent. Because our government understands that Ontario needs everyone’s skills to compete in today’s global economy. That is why we created a program that gave laid-off workers the opportunity to train for highly skilled jobs in sectors that need workers, creating a brighter future for their families, and for all Ontarians.
