Just over one year ago on November 2, 2009, the Provincial
Government assumed responsibility for the design and delivery of
EI-funded employment benefits and support measures through the
Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA).
In 2010-11, the province will deliver over $146 million
through these programs that assist EI-eligible
individuals to participate in training programs, to start their own business
or to find work or to gain valuable work experience.
Through programs like the Job Creation Partnership and the
Labour Market Partnership, the LMDA is also supporting community
partners and industry in carrying out initiatives to address
their human resource challenges or to enhance community
infrastructure.
This fiscal year, we have supported over 10,000 individuals
in accessing work experience opportunities, participating in
training or in starting their own business.
The province has approved 264 new Job Creation Partnership
projects supporting 1,380 individuals. The total investment for
these projects has been $13.6 million this year to-date.
We have been making unprecedented investments in skills
development. We have already invested over $97.7 million this
fiscal year, compared to $94.8 million for the whole of last
year, and there is more to come. We have supported over 9,000
individuals in starting or completing their programs, including
1,382 new apprentices.
At the same time we are continuing to learn a great deal as
to how we can better shape the LMDA programs to meet the needs
of the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador and our provincial
priorities.
Throughout the remainder of this fiscal year, we will
continue to review and make adjustments to the LMDA programs and
services with a focus on better streamlining business processes
and increasing consistency in policies and practices for clients
across the province.
We will standardize and harmonize intake
periods for skills development applications and other LMDA
programs, such as Job Creation Partnership program, to help
ensure more responsive application processing times.
We will introduce new approval processes for grant-based
programs to ensure they are better aligned with provincial and
regional economic priorities; and we will review our skills
development supports, such as amounts provided for living
allowances, to make sure participants throughout the province
have fair and equitable access to these benefits.
I am proud of our accomplishments since the devolution of
LMDA programming and expect that 2011-12 will be a hallmark year
for these programs.
2010 12 09 1:45 p.m.
