Industry Training Authority - Available Funding

I have been working on a project for 18 months now. The purpose of which is to develop a public works apprenticeship model. The idea of this model is to encourage cross training across the different functions of the public works yard from parks, water, roads and construction, fleet, water and sewer. For those of you that don't know many companies and industry associations are taping into the available funding that ITA has for this kind of initiative.

Some basic criteria you need to address are:

1) Is this an industry led initiative?
2) Are there enough people to be trained?
3) Is there support from companies within the industry?

Once you submit a basic level proposal to the Federal Government they will assess the need for this type of program, and grant funding for the research phase of the project, forming a steering committee and producing a proposal back to the Industry Training Authority.

If once the proposal from the Steering Committee level funded by the Federal Government is accepted then ITA will fund the initiative to develop an apprenticeship model. This type of model doesn't have to be applied just in a "blue collar environment", as it could be applied to a supervisor apprenticeship type designation, a firefighter type designation and a myriad of other professions that may need to meet certain standards and competencies that are not currently mapped out. ITA will assist in funding the assessment of what education is currently available, put out a call for proposals for any identified gaps, and fund the creation of curriculum where the gaps are.

If an organization is wanting to get creative and create a funding source they could apply to be approved as a school providing the required training by ITA and receive funding to do so. In addition, an organization could apply to be PCTIA certified and if the program they are offering fits the Provincial Government criteria for retraining they could have applicants apply and receive on-job training while they are laid off.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to make ITA and the apprenticeship model work for your industry contact me to discuss in further detail.