Noting that 20,000 people were looking for work in Windsor last month, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development has announced enhancements to the Second Career Program.
He spoke at the Automobility and Innovation Centre in a city that had the country's highest unemployment rate in Canada in June.
Monte McNaughton announced a slimmed-down, faster application process and more financial support for those training for a new career.
"We've heard loud and clear that workers are tired of slow processing times and endless requests for documents. So, we have made changes to reduce the number of forms workers need to fill out and prevent common errors," said McNaughton.
Weekly basic living supports will increase to up to $500 a week, and funding for childcare and transportation will get a boost.
"These changes may mean hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of additional dollars for workers who need our help," McNaughton said.
The Ontario government has boosted its investment in the program by an extra $5-million this year to about $82.4-million.
In May, employment in Ontario was still lagged behind its pre-pandemic level, and yet, jobs are available. McNaughton told reporters there are about 250,000 unfilled positions in Ontario.
"Each of these jobs is a paycheque waiting to be collected by someone with the right skills," he said. "We know workers are eager to learn these skills."
In December, the program focused on local jobs, in-demand jobs, and getting people trained faster. Since then, the number of people who have started training has more than doubled to over 2,000 across Ontario.
Since its launch in 2008, the Second Career Program has helped over 117,000 people province-wide launch their new careers. In Windsor, over 300 people have completed the program since 2015.
