Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.

Mr. Saturnino.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I wanted to ask now about some funding that's been moved around, and I just was wondering if the Minister can help me understand it.

But the Labour Market Development Agreement has moved from fund one to fund three, and I'm unsure what this means and so I'm wondering if the Minister can explain this to me? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. So the Office of the Auditor General, they look at, you know, our financials and they recommended that we make that adjustment. So we are moving that contribution from work performed on behalf of others to operations to more accurately reflect how it is used. So it's an accounting thing to make sure that we're more transparent and more clear. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will pass the floor other to another colleague.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go back to trades and occupations. Is that program, is it fully subscribed or is there still funds lapsing? Thank you.

Minister of ECE.

Thank you. It's not quite fully subscribed but it's not like there's no uptake at all. So we are getting close to the maximum there. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And the Minister had mentioned that there was I think approximately 300 recipients of that program right now. Can the Minister tell me, I guess the success, like what's the retention, I guess, rate and seeing some of the apprentices get through and how many are we losing, and why? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino.

Mr. Saturnino.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, we hear, I guess, constantly from contractors that, you know, they have trouble hiring people with skills and more so trades people. Is there any special initiatives, I guess, that you're looking -- the government's looking at, the department's looking at, to encourage, I guess, more basic training and also trying to get more people into the trades? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. So as part of the transformation of Aurora College, we are trying to expand access to training and education. A lot of those issues that the Members are talking about are, you know, issues that need to be addressed before someone really moves into the academic part of apprenticeships. As Mr. Saturnino mentioned, there are some new programs as well to help apprentices get the skills they need to make their way through the program. And from what I've heard directly from the people who have been engaged in those, they've been very, very valuable. So I encourage anyone who might be struggling to access those. Perhaps I can hand it to the deputy minister for some more detail. Thank you.

Thank you. Deputy minister MacDonald.