Summary:
In the February 2018 federal budget, the government committed to create a new Indigenous employment training program. But some of the funding is not new; it included funding previously committed for a pre-existing program that had been scheduled to conclude in March 2018.
The Call to Action:
We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
Analysis:
In the February 2018 federal budget, the government committed to create a new Indigenous employment training program. But some of the funding is not new;it included funding previously committed for a pre-existing program that had been scheduled to conclude in March 2018.
The new Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program (ISET) was created after consultations with “Indigenous partners,” according to the federal budget. It will replace the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Program (ASETS), which was launched in 2010. But ASETS, in turn, was built on previous programs in place since 1999.
The federal government committed to spend $2 billion, over five years, on the ISET program.
Previously
In the February 2019 federal budget, the government committed to $815 million over 10 years, starting in fiscal year 2019-20, and $61.8 million ongoing, in support of Indigenous post-secondary education. This was to include the development of First Nations, Inuit and Métis strategies.
As a result in June 2020 Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), representing Inuit in Canada, announced “a new source of funding to pursue post-secondary education.”
The Inuit Post Secondary Education Program is funded through the 2019 federal budget commitment. According to ITK, three quarters of the funding will directly support Inuit students. Funds will be administered by Inuit land claims organizations or their designated delivery organizations.
In April 2019, Indigenous Services Canada began implementing a new formula-based regional model approach to funding First Nations elementary and secondary education. It was to also provide additional funding to on-reserve schools for language and culture programming and full-time kindergarten.
Previously, the 2018 budget included a one-year commitment of $10 million toward the support of Métis Nation post-secondary education.
The 2018 federal budget also committed to invest $8.5 million over two years to review the on-reserve income assistance program, including what more it needs to help individuals access employment and education.
Also, in 2017, the federal government committed to increase funding to the Post-Secondary Student Support Program for First Nations and Inuit students by $90 million over the course of two years. The extra funds were earmarked to “support the post-secondary education financial needs of over 4,600 students over the two years.”
But the funding increase is at least $10 million less than promised during the 2015 election campaign, where the promise was “$50 million in additional annual support to the Post-Secondary Student Support Program.”