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Canada launches apprentice loan initiative

Xinhua, January 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Thursday announced the launch of the Canada Apprentice Loan initiative, which will provide apprentices registered in designated Red Seal trades with access to over 100 million U.S. dollars in interest-free loans each year.

The Canada Apprentice Loan, which was introduced in Economic Action Plan 2014, will provide apprentices in Red Seal trades across Canada with access to interest-free loans. It is estimated that at least 26,000 apprentices a year will benefit from the loans.

The Red Seal trades include a total of 57 skilled trades, such as bakers, bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, gasfitters, heavy equipment operators, ironworkers, machinists, painters, plumbers, sheet metal workers, and truck mechanics, to name a few.

The loans will also help apprentices address the costs they encounter during technical training, including educational fees, tools and equipment, living expenses and forgone wages. It will be managed by the Canada Student Loans Program, within Employment and Social Development Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, almost 360,000 people are enrolled every year in over 400 apprenticeships and skilled trades programs; however, only half of apprentices are completing their programs, in part, because of the financial demands incurred during their technical training.

There are approximately 2.9 million skilled trade workers in Canada which represent 17 percent of the workforce.

However, a number of employers in Canada reportedly cannot meet demand for skilled labor in specific sectors. The Conference Board of Canada predicts that Canada will need one million additional skilled workers by 2020.

Apprentices registered in a designated Red Seal trade apprenticeship with their province or territory will be able to apply for interest-free loans of up to 4,000 dollars per period of technical training.

Applications and eligibility criteria are available through the Canada Apprentice Loan Online Service at Canada. Applicants that submit all the necessary information can expect to receive their loan within 7 to 10 business days from the time the application is received.

The loans are interest-free until after loan recipients complete or leave their apprenticeship training program, up to a maximum of six years. Endite