Poilievre continues to court workers with pledge to train 350,000 tradespeople

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre continued his efforts this week to draw in working-class voters with a plan to train 350,000 more trade workers across the country.

Billing it as “more boots, less suits,” Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa Friday that his plan will “bring home a country that works for the people that do the work.”

A statement accompanying his announcement said the party is “ready to fight for Canada’s workers” and that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs mean Canada must “take back control of our economy from the Americans.”

“That means quickly training up Canadians who know how to build, develop and transport the goods the world needs,” Poilievre said.

The Conservative leader said not only would his plan boost the number of skilled trade workers, he would harmonize regulations across Canada and expand financial support for training.

Poilievre said the first step in that plan will be to “reinstate apprenticeship grants of up to $4,000” that were introduced by the last Conservative government and are set to expire at the end of the month.  

Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government rolled out two apprenticeship grant programs: the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant and the Apprenticeship Completion Grant. 

Both grants are worth up to a maximum of $2,000 each. Applications for the grant can still be made up until March 31.

CBC News asked the Prime Minister’s Office if Prime Minister Mark Carney will extend the grant beyond the end of the month, but has yet to receive a response.

Existing apprenticeship supports

Once these grants expire, there are still funding supports in place to help Canadians complete their apprenticeships including:

• Up to $20,000 in interest-free loans to help apprentices attend training. 
• Allowing apprentices attending training to access employment insurance (EI) benefits.
• Up to $10,000 in support to companies that hire apprentices.
• A $25-million annual fund for unions to support equipment and material purchases and partnerships through the Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP).
• Up to $5 million in funding for union projects that increase investment in training equipment. 

Courting the support of unions, workers

Poilievre said that if he is elected prime minister, a Conservative government will expand the UTIP to support the construction of buildings where apprenticeship training takes place. 

The Conservative leader also said he will create a special class of EI that allows unions and colleges to pre-register apprentices.

And he said he will work with the provinces to harmonize health and safety standards, so tradespeople can work anywhere in Canada.

“This is common sense and we are going to pay for all this by cutting bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid and waste,” Poilievre said.

The announcement reinforces a Conservative theme this week that saw Poilievre make a series of announcements designed to support industrial workers and tradespeople.

On Monday, Poilievre visited a steel wire manufacturing facility in L’Orignal, Ont., where he promised to scrap carbon pricing on greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial emitters.

“There will be no taxes on Canadian consumers, no taxes on Canadian industries,” Poilievre said.

On Wednesday, Poilievre was in Sudbury, Ont., to announce that he would green-light all permits for mining in Ontario’s Ring of Fire. The region in the north of the province is rich in minerals such as chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.

At a news conference, Poilievre said the Ring of Fire “could make Canada very rich. It would be life-changing for northern Ontario towns, galvanizing thousands of paycheques and modern infrastructure.”