Programs
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Employment Service (ES)
Better Jobs Ontario
(BJO)
Employment Service (ES)
Employment Service offers a range of resources, supports and service components to respond to the career and employment needs of individuals and the skilled labour needs of employers, and can help individuals on a path to higher skill training and employment.
Contact Information:
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The “assisted” service components of the Employment Service are:
The eligibility criteria for access to any of the assisted service components are:
- That the individual is unemployed and not participating in full-time training or education;
. - For the Employment Service, an individual who is working less than an average of 20 hours per week is considered “unemployed”; an individual is considered to be in full-time training or education based on the definition supplied by the institution in which they are enrolled.
** Service providers can make some exceptions (up to 10% of clients served) to the eligibility criteria. These exceptions are based on an assessment of other suitability and service need factors, the local labour market, the goals and objectives of the Employment Service, and the performance commitments and Funding defined by the Agreement.
Resource and Information
(Unassisted Services)
Individuals who are served well through RI usually have a clear understanding of market perceptions, good motivation and work habits, and strong interpersonal skills.
RI services also help people:
- Complete registrations for secondary and postsecondary education;
- Complete and submit applications, including sign-off where necessary, for programs such as Better Jobs Ontario;
- Access income support such as Ontario Works, the Ontario Disability Support Program, or Employment Insurance.
Through RI, individuals can obtain information about:
- The local labour market; careers and occupations;
- Education, training and employment opportunities, including application requirements for Better Jobs Ontario, etc.;
- Career planning and job search strategies;
- All Employment Ontario programs and services and other community programs, services and resources that support employability (e.g. apprenticeship supports.)
Better Jobs Ontario (BJO)
You can get new skills – those needed for jobs in demand now – and financial support if you qualify for the program.BETTER JOBS ONTARIO PROGRAM
Eligibility:
You qualify if you either:
- have been laid-off and have not been working or are working a temporary job just to cover costs
. - have not been laid-off but have been unemployed for six months or longer, and are part of a low-income household
You can still apply if you receive any of the following:
- Employment Insurance (EI)
- Ontario Works (OW)
- Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)
Description:
Better Jobs Ontario provides eligible applicants with:
- skills training for in-demand jobs
. - financial support, covering costs up to $28,000 including tuition, books, other instructional costs, transportation, and basic living allowance (up to $500/week)
- additional funding may be available for childcare, disability supports and living away from home costs
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Canada-Ontario Job Grant
(COJG) provides opportunities for employers, individually or in groups, to invest in their workforce, with help from the government.
COJG
All people who are residents of Ontario and either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or protected person and meet the eligibility requirements below are eligible to participate in training funded through the Canada-Ontario Job Grant.
Eligibility requirements are as follows:
Employed individuals must be identified by their employer.
Unemployed individuals must also be sponsored by an employer, demonstrated through a permanent or conditional offer of employment.
An individual must not be participating in full-time training or education or any other government training intervention that offers funding support for the same tuition, books or other training-related costs (e.g., Second Career).
Business owners, including individuals with a controlling interest in corporations, are not eligible as trainees under COJG. Training requests for trainees who are in senior management positions with large organizations (over 500 employees) are ineligible for COJG funding. Trainees who are in senior management positions at small and medium employers (less than 500 employees) are eligible for COJG funding.
Suitability
The Ministry has developed employer and individual-focused suitability indicators for measuring program effectiveness as part of a future performance management system for the Canada-Ontario Job Grant.
Through the Grant application process and subsequent service follow-ups with employers and individuals, service providers will collect a range of information that will provide the Ministry with a greater understanding of how the Grant is being accessed by employers and individuals. This information will inform future Ministry decisions regarding the need to further focus or prioritize the use of the Grant towards specific types of employers and/or individuals.
The Ministry will convey additional strategic guidance and direction to service providers through future iterations of these program guidelines and the regular annual business planning cycle.