QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Community Workforce Development Program
April 16, 2024
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, my province of Newfoundland and Labrador receives an allotment of $16.8 million through the federal government’s Community Workforce Development Program. The program provides training and workplace supports to a range of people, including those on the autism spectrum.
Senator Gold, as it is currently World Autism Month, can you please confirm that my province will not be negatively impacted by a transition of the allocation of specific amounts to each province into national programming?
Thank you for your question, and for underlining the importance of the financing that the provinces — and your province, in particular — receive, and also the important programs that they support. Indeed, the government has invested considerable funds through — amongst other things — labour market transfer agreements. This includes almost $1 billion to Newfoundland and Labrador since 2018, and, indeed, this upcoming year, Newfoundland and Labrador can expect to receive roughly $142 million in transfers to continue to run various programs, training and employment.
It’s up to the Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, and its minister, the Honourable Gerry Byrne, to decide how the money is allocated within the province.
The core funding within our labour transfers, including the $142 million to Newfoundland and Labrador, will not cease. This funding will continue next year and beyond, and that is the position — as I’ve been advised — that the government has taken on this matter.
Senator Gold, thank you for that response. The Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills — as you’ve indicated — in Newfoundland and Labrador said that the transition of the funding to national programming will be to the detriment of the province. He said, “. . . when the federal government does that, the money goes to Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.”
What is your response to Minister Byrne?
The government will continue to work with your minister, and all other ministers, to make sure that the funds are distributed equitably across the country, and then once they’re received by the provinces, their jurisdictions will distribute them appropriately.
