The other thing we were referring to on the training side was a program that we modelled after something called the “new hire program”. It was introduced in the late 1990s, and it gave employers an EI holiday when they hired young people. It encouraged employers to hire youth. It was very successful. It gave employers a holiday from paying EI for, say, a year, which gave them options for putting money towards training new employees. The employees still paid their portion, so they could still access employment insurance benefits if they needed to. Employers could use the extra funding to help train their employees.
Right now, many of our members are dealing with the shortage of labour by hiring people who are under-qualified and training them into positions. That's how they're dealing with the issue. So more dollars or more ways to invest money in training would be welcome.