Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have seen some success in this program. I do believe we had 200 people in the last fiscal year do on-the-job training, and then an additional 69 through some of the community projects. So it is being utilized. We also have to make sure that our communities also take some of that responsibility in getting some of their residents employed, and that is where we have the partnerships on community projects as well as the wage subsidy. So we want to work with employers, we want to work with our stakeholders, in getting our residents into jobs. We have seen it work. We have seen it happen. I know that on April 1st we will see some of these dollars flowing out to the smallest communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Committee, we will take a short recess.

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Thank you, committee. I will call the committee back to order. Any further questions from committee? I see none. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Bear with me, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to get myself back in order here. One of the things that I wanted to ask about is the apprenticeships. Let us go into the area of apprenticeships. We indicated in the business plan that the Student North Apprenticeship Program is something that we were going to roll out in high schools across the territory. Maybe I will start by asking what the status of what is known as SNAP, what the status of the SNAP program is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are rolling that program out. I do not have the specifics on how many schools are offering the program right now. Obviously, there are some challenges when you look at that program in terms of classroom space, or space that allows for people to practise kind of apprenticeships moving forward. We are, just to let the Members know, developing an apprenticeship, trades, and occupational strategy. Once we have got through approval, we can do a presentation to standing committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If the department could provide us some additional information with regard to the program in terms of what the rollout is looking like, and what the uptake is, if there is interest amongst those in the territory? We see more recently some declining numbers in trades and trade apprenticeships, so I think, as part of our big overarching education development goals going forward, that we certainly want to start to align students' interests with potential opportunities in the trades, at least in the high school years, arguably even sooner. I would certainly like to get some information around the Student North Apprenticeship Program so I can know better what kind of success it is having, if it is something we really want to continue to support going forward or put more resources in to going forward.

That leads me also into the funding line item for Skills Canada on page 45. If I can get some clarification on the 2015-16, we made a contribution of $150,000, and then last year in proposing for this year it's down to $70,000. If I can get clarification from the department, that would be appreciated. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and we can definitely get that information, more updated information, for the Member on the SNAP program. That program, I would like to say, aligns very well with our Skills 4 Success, but also on another point, you know, the Pathways to Graduation and helping those students who want to get into a trade. That year, I think in 2015-16 actuals we were able to put more money into the pot for Skills Canada, I think. Because there was other funding that lapsed in other areas within the department, we were actually able to put more investment for that year. Thank you

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So traditionally, is this the total amount that we contribute to Skills Canada every year typically around $70,000 or do we have other pots that Skills Canada is able to access as well? It just seems to me that an area of such importance to our goals and objectives as a government in terms of beefing up our trade skills, that this is an organization that we certainly would want to be supportive. So I'm just wondering: are there pots that Skills Canada is accessing as well? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, typically this is the amount of funding that we give to Skills Canada. We've seen some very excellent results out of that, apprentices, people getting into the trades that they wanted to work in that have gone through NWT Skills Canada. Currently, I'm not sure if there's any other funding within the department that they might be able to access, but that's something that we can look into as we continue to work with Skills Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for that. I want to just skip over to the small community employment for a moment. I think there's not anybody in the room here who isn't grateful for the significant increase in this contribution. There have been a number of questions, however, on how it will be expanded. And, of course, committee wants to see a commitment of this money going directly into employment opportunities. The Minister talked about, you know, community partnerships, and I'm wondering if he can explain a little bit more what that looks like and what exactly do we mean by community partnerships? Are we talking about work experience opportunities? Are we talking about mentorships? Are there apprenticeship opportunities? What does community partnerships mean? How do we intend to go from -- you know, normally it was only spending somewhere in the neighbourhood of about $340,000 to $400,000 a year and we're attaching three more million to it. I'm very interested to know how we intend to fully disburse those funds and not end up with half of it or more coming back. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned, we do offer a wage subsidy. Under the community initiatives we provide project-based training through partnerships with small community governments and organizations. The training may be formal or on-the-job or a combination of both. Projects are targeted to meet current and future labour force needs and enhance the employability of residents. As I mentioned earlier, we had 200 individuals participate in the training on the job and then 69 through formal training opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we say "subsidies," I mean, I understand that to be that, if an employer were to apply for this funding, that obviously so much dollars per hour are going to be allocated to help offset the hourly rate to pay an employee. Can the department expand a little bit and tell us, you know, what does the subsidy entail? Is it going to be that so many dollars will actually be paid for by the government on that person's hourly wage, and if so, how many dollars per hour? What does the subsidy look like and how does one apply for it and get it, et cetera? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The training-on-the-job, the wage subsidy is a program that helps employers employ our residents of the Northwest Territories. There is a big focus on youth, though. For anybody who might be listening and want to listen to the wage subsidy, I encourage them to talk to a client service officer or a career development officer to get that information. Our wage subsidy, I do believe we provide 80 per cent of the wage, and then we ask an employer to look at the other 20 per cent. Thank you, Mr. Chair.