The Canada job grant is the first action that a federal government has taken on training in a long time. It's a step in the right direction. It will mean we're able to train more people through our training centres. We have close to 300 training centres across Canada and we currently only train members. But with the Canada job grant, we'll be able to expand that training to members of the public who are interested in receiving training in one of our construction trades.
The key part we like about the job grant is that it's aligned with what employers are willing to do. It requires employers to hire these people at the end of the training program. In our universe, employers will know that they need 35 carpenters to go to Kitimat between March and May. This will mean that between September and January, those carpenters would be able to go to a training facility, receive what they need in order to meet the requirements of the B.C. government to be a carpenter in that province, and get that training. It also means that the company that's doing the construction work will hire these people and will put them to work. We have a tough time sometimes getting companies to take on apprentices, and the job grant encourages them to do just that. As far as we understand from HRSDC, you will be able to use the job grant for training towards your curriculum. It's excellent.
The second part of your question was on the Canada student loan issue. This has been a real bee in the bonnet of construction apprentices for a long time, because theirs are short-duration courses—eight or nine weeks. Previously, to qualify for Canada student loans you needed, I think, an 18-week program.
It's an amazing change. It means our guys and girls will be able to go to their community college and get a loan to be able to take their in-class portion, something they were never able to do before.
The third thing I'll address really quickly, as I know you have limited time. I can't remember the acronym. It is the flexible program wherein there's going to be a pilot to look at delivering training in a different way. This will help solve the problem of the New Brunswick carpenter who is working in Alberta and who gets a letter from the New Brunswick government saying, you must come home and take your block training between such-and-such dates. However, the guy is employed and is making $85,000 a year and can't quit the job to go home to sit on EI and take the training.
This will hopefully allow that person to take the New Brunswick curriculum in Alberta at SAIT or NAIT. This will allow NAIT and SAIT to get paid in the way they need to be and deliver the New Brunswick curriculum.
We're really hopeful that those things will work out.