May 2, 2023 - In Budget 2023 the provincial government announced $480 million over 3-years for the Future Ready Action Plan. Today, further details were announced on how the government is planning to tackle the persistent labour shortage.  The Langley Chamber joined an invite-only pre-briefing to get the key details on this important workforce development strategy. Here are the key highlights:

Funding additional training seats:
- 3,000 additional tech seats
- Doubling the number of subsidized seats for B.C. veterinary medicine students from 20 to 40
- Creating 1,390 new early childhood education training spaces over the next three years

New Future Skills Grant
- The new future skills grant is reducing financial barriers by providing British Columbians with access to up to $3,500 to cover the costs of tuition for eligible short-term skills training. (About 12 weeks, or microcredentials, delivered by public institutions)
- The grant will be available beginning Sept. 2023
- More 400 courses are included in the program
- See the courses and get more info: https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/plan/finance/future-skills-grant
- Eligibility: Most everyone -- over 19 years old and BC citizen or permanent resident

Workplace Innovation Fund
-New funding to help sectors and businesses in finding and implementing practical solutions to current labour market challenges.
- Details on this will come in Fall 2023

TradeUpBC
-Short-term training to increase skills for certified journeypersons provides new reskilling and training opportunities that responds quickly to new skills for in-demand and rapidly evolving jobs.

New “Youth in Manufacturing Initiative”
- New program will provide up to 500 youth opportunities for work experience in manufacturing positions to help drive participation in that sector

Student Loan Changes
- Beginning August 2023, interest-free student loan maximums will double, providing up to $220 per week for students with no dependents and up to $280 per week for students with children or other dependents.
- Graduates earning less than $40,000 a year won’t have to make any payments on their outstanding loans while they look for the jobs they’ve trained for.
- For people earning more than $40,000, their student loan payments will be 10 per cent of their annual household income, rather than 20 per cent.

More Details:
See the full plan at: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Future-Ready-May2023.pdf