Sask. Gov. takes over after labour market transfer top-up ends

The provincial and federal governments can’t agree on whether there was a cut in employment and skill training funding for Saskatchewan.

The Government of Saskatchewan says it is filling in the gap, but Ottawa disagreed with that assessment, saying the base funding hasn’t changed.

According to the province, cuts to the labour market transfer agreements (LTMAs) leave Saskatchewan short $17.6 million, but a statement from the federal government indicated the funding agreement hasn’t changed.

“In 2017-2018, we announced top-up funding for the LTMAs and that funding ended in 2023-2024,” the statement read. “The base funding continues and has not changed. Saskatchewan receives over $66 million annually through the LTMA.”

The temporary top-up added up to $625 million, the federal government said, which was spread across Canada’s provinces and territories. The Government of Canada said it announced in its 2023 budget that the top-up funding was extended for only one year.

“The provinces and territories were aware of that funding coming to an end,” the federal government explained. “Some provinces and territories took action and reallocated some funds and some did not. The Government of Canada continues to provide nearly $3 billion annually in base funding to provinces and territories through LMTAs.”

Ottawa added Saskatchewan will also be a major beneficiary of new federal financial measures.

“There is base funding through the workforce development agreement,” said Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister of immigration and career training. “This somehow wasn’t a long-term core funding for the Labour Market Transfer.”

Harrison said there have been talks about extending the funding agreement.

“I’ve been sitting at the table at the labour market table for 10 years as minister of jobs and training,” said Harrison. “I can tell you without any hesitation that the intention was that we were going to have a long-term bridge arrangement through LMTA.”

Harrison said he doesn’t understand why the Government of Canada wouldn’t extend the top-up further.

“It makes so little sense, especially for a government that’s running a $40 billion deficit … why the one place they would cut would be $625 million for job-training funding,” said Harrison.

Harrison said Saskatchewan will continue to pay for the $17.6 million portion of the fund that he feels the province should have received from Ottawa to ensure the training programs continue.

Despite the federal government saying all the provinces and territories were made aware that the LTMA top-up agreement was to end, Harrison said there was “no notice at all,” calling it a surprising and abrupt cut.

“We didn’t even find out on budget day,” said Harrison. “We had to dig through all of the documents that came along with the federal budget.”

Harrison hopes the federal government will re-evaluate the move and bring back the top-up funding.

According to the provincial government, around 7,000 people would have been affected by the loss of $17.6 million. The province said the fund helps the most vulnerable people facing barriers to employment, a category which includes people with a disability and adult learners participating in training and employment programs.