Greg Selinger

The NDP announced yesterday it will invest $4 million per year in rural colleges, increase hiring incentives for rural employers, and expand access to skilled training opportunities for rural Manitobans. The Rural and Northern Apprentice Training Strategy is the latest plank unveiled in the party's election platform.

The strategy includes five key aspects to it:

1. Establish a new Journey Person Business Start program which provides support for rural journey people to start their own businesses.
2. Create a new Skill Build program to upgrade high-school shop classrooms to provide apprenticeship training.
3. Create ten additional trades training courses to be delivered through online training.
4. Invest $400,000 in Red River College’s mobile trades labs, allowing them to reach more rural and northern communities.
5. Add an additional $1,000 apprentice hiring bonus for level 1 and 2 apprentices, effectively doubling the incentives for rural employers.

The NDP also announced Thursday a $60 million commitment toward the first phase of a new Skilled Trades and Technology Centre for Red River College as the centrepiece of the party's plan to significantly increase the number of apprentices training across Manitoba. Selinger notes the Red River College campus in Winnipeg is nearly forty years old, and some of the facilities need to be upgraded.

On Thursday the Progressive Conservative Party promised, if elected, it would establish a $20 million Manitoba Community Investment Fund which would provide money to community facilities around the province. According to the PC's this would be an increase of $5 million per year over current NDP funding levels, and the fund would ultimately provide $25 million in new funding over a five-year period.

We head to the polls October 4th.