Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Part of the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) mandate is assisting people who need employment skills training. They were looking for ways to do this when the StrongerBC Skills Training Grants became available. While this is not a CCEDA program, it achieves their objectives and Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s Economic Development Officer, has been promoting this program for the past month.
According to the provincial government website, the grant will pay for up to $3,500 in eligible short term skills training at public post secondary institutions.
“It has generated a bit of interest. People stop me on the street to say, ‘Oh, yeah, I saw your post about that grant and I really want to try to apply for this or that.’ People have been emailing me. There was someone interested in applying for bookkeeping. A couple of people were interested in the building design and architectural CAD course. There was someone interested in website management,” explained Maddigan.
“I'm working with the North Island Employment Foundations Society, in Campbell River, to try and make sure that people know about these and get some initiatives off the ground.”
“There are over 400 courses to choose from and this grant will cover the entire cost of the course. Most of them are online, which is great for people on Cortes.”
