Canada-Ontario Job Grant and Skills Training Pilots

Canada-Ontario Job Grant and Skills Training Pilots

On March 28, 2014, Ontario signed the Canada-Ontario Job Fund Agreement with the federal government, which will provide Ontario with $192 million per year for the next six years.  The Agreement is a key source of funding for new employer-led training through the Canada-Ontario Job Grant.

The ministry has launched two new, employer-driven skills training pilots:
Canada-Ontario Job Grant: Customized Training and Canada-Ontario Job Grant: UpSkill.

Since its launch in September 2014, COJG has subsidized over 21,000 workers’ training plans in Ontario, improving skillsets and helping to fill the province’s most in-demand skilled labour positions.

With over $115 million to be allocated by 2017, small businesses across the province should apply for the training grants to further develop their employees’ skills and increase company capabilities.

The COJG funding program requires that businesses engage in third-party training in order to be eligible. In-house training does not qualify to receive government funding through this job grant. Training programs that have the best opportunity of receiving funding include those that:

Impact an employee’s role;
Impact an employee’s job title;
Increases and employee’s salary;
Enables job creation; and
Provides the business with new abilities.
Business and Employee Eligibility to Receive Ontario Government Grants

There are currently no restrictions based on the company’s revenue, incorporation, number of employees, or ability to export. However, funding does need to take place in Ontario and the applicant must be an incorporated Ontario organization.

There are restrictions on which employees are eligible to receive government funded training. Individuals trained under the grant must be:

An Ontario resident;
A Canadian citizen;
A permanent resident or protected person;
Not currently active in a full-time education program;
Sponsored by their employer; and
Participating in Ontario-based training.


Eligible Expenses for COJG Ontario Government Grants - Businesses will be able to recover up to 66% of the expenses for training-related costs, such as:

Third-party trainer costs;
Tuition for continuing education courses;
Student and examination fees;
Textbooks and course materials; and Training-related software.

For businesses with fewer than 50 employees, a portion of employee payroll costs can also be factored into your total funding received. Up to 1/6 of wages can be claimed during the training period, which contributes towards the maximum of $10,000 per trainee funding limit.

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List of education blogs below the posts.

Ontario’s Private-College Grads NOT finding jobs

ESL in Canada will be researching PCC's to find the few diamonds in the sea of underperforming Ontario schools - contributions are welcome from employers, grads and teachers.

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Ontario’s private-college grads not finding jobs,
by Simona Chiose Education Reporter
The Globe and Mail Published Sunday, May 22, 2016 9:23PM EDT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/students-at-ontarios-private-colleges-not-finding-jobs-provincial-numbers-show/article30117401/

-Almost 40 per cent of the most highly rated private career colleges in Ontario appear to be failing to prepare students for the labour market, with a third of graduates at 58 out of 159

- The Globe’s analysis shows that the expensive fees are often a poor investment. Along with the high number of students who could not find any work, an even smaller number found jobs in the area they studied. Overall, less than half of employed students were working in their field of study. At some campuses of the CDI College, for example, only 34 per cent of grads had related employment.

- At public colleges, 80 per cent of grads say their work closely matches their education. And roughly 84 per cent of graduates in the public college sector also find work after they graduate. The relatively poor outcomes in the private college sector have led many to call for tighter control over the schools.

 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly compared the general employment rate of publicly funded community colleges to the employment rate for private career colleges graduates in their field of study. 

In fact, the general employment rate six months after graduation is 83.4 per cent for public community colleges versus 71.2 per cent for private career colleges. In addition, the article said private colleges charge fees between $10,000 and more than $20,000 a year. There are some full year courses which charge less. This version has been corrected.

Quality of education at Ontario’s private career colleges questioned Last updated Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2016 

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Ontario Private Career Colleges: An Exploratory Analysis
Roger Pizarro Milian and Martin Hicks,
Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario

In terms of performance measures, Ontario publishes student loan repayment default rates for PCCs, which are higher (21%) than the default rates for public institutions (13% for colleges, 5% for universities). The province is just beginning to collect a list of performance metrics for PCCs comparable to those collected for public colleges: graduation rates, graduate employment rates, graduate and employer satisfaction.

http://www.heqco.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/PCC%20ENG.pdf

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Complaints about career colleges emerge
by: Alexandra Posadzki, The Canadian Press

http://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/complaints-about-career-colleges-emerge/

The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom of information request, outline 47 formal complaints made by students to Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in 2010 and 2011.  There were complaints alleging incompetent, unprofessional teachers at Everest, Evergreen and the Canadian Business College.

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Too Cool for School Too

 https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Resources/Reports/2013-2014-Annual-Report.aspx#Too_Cool_for_School_and_Too_Cool_for_School_Too___Private_career_colleges_and_colleges_of_applied_arts_and_technology

The Ministry’s Private Career Colleges Branch has oversight of all registered private career colleges in Ontario and is also responsible for enforcement action against unregistered private career colleges. We received 15 complaints from private career college students and operators in 2013-2014 (down slightly from last year’s 19).

In a case similar to that featured in Too Cool for School Too, students in a heating, refrigeration and air conditioning program complained that the program was not certified by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), and without that certification, their job prospects would be limited upon graduation.

Ombudsman staff are reviewing the Ministry’s role in approving such programs and what steps it has taken to respond to the Ombudsman’s recommendations since his 2009 report. At that time, the Ombudsman said the Ministry had “abdicated” its responsibility to ensure college programs met its standards, and called its response to his report “disappointing.”

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Private career colleges are under-regulated in Ontario

http://www.competeprosper.ca/blog/private_career_colleges_are_under_regulated_in_Ontario

PCCs benefit from provincially funded job retraining programs and student loans as they receive indirect provincial funding through employment training programs and student loans. In 2012-2013, $231 million was distributed to 15,787 students in 167 private institutions. Considering the high Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) default loan rate for PCCs (amounting to 18.8 percent in 2013), the province's loans are becoming an indirect subsidy to these private businesses.

Complaints of a lack of proper equipment, inadequate instructors, and a failure to deliver the promised number of training hours are common among former and current students of PCCs.

The province, not private institutions, needs to provide educational programs that prepare students for the job market. The Institute strongly encourages the province to consider incorporating vocational training offered by PCCs into the public system, mainly via community colleges. This will ensure higher academic standards are set and that students rights’ are protected. The role of PCCs should be limited to providing hobby courses and short seminars.

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Hard lessons: Newcomers and Ontario Private Colleges

http://www.torontolip.com/Portals/0/Resources/Education/Hard%20Lessons%20-%20Toolkit.pdf

A number of key informants complained that PCC standards of instruction, curriculum and facilities were poor in many instances and that placement or practicum opportunities appeared either non-existent or inadequate.

Newcomer students, with poor English skills are being are aggressively recruited and admitted into private colleges despite their language assessment results. The success of placements depends on many factors, including job readiness, soft skills and English language skills.

Some employers don’t recognize Private College diplomas as equivalent to Community College diplomas or report that graduates are not job ready.

Some interviewees mentioned that sometimes the employer does not recognize the name of the private college and so the quality of the certificate is unknown. Others reported having a bad experience with a private college graduate and may then generalize other students from the same college.

Some regulatory bodies don’t recognize the Private College diploma because it does not meet their standards, such as number of hours of instruction.

Most of the interviewees stated that their clients who attended community colleges have better employment outcomes than those who attended private colleges. For those programs that are offered by both community colleges and private colleges – the community college graduates were able to find jobs faster. One interviewee stated that none of her clients that attended a private college were able to secure employment.

 Previous blog posts, education articles, links to information, education services and social media in the right side bar, 

List of education blogs below the posts.