Program Overview

Ontario is launching Canada-Ontario Job Grant program under the new name Ontario Job Grant. The Ontario Job Grant (OJG) provides funding to help employers train their employees and update their skills. This helps employers ensure their workforce has the right skills to adapt to a changing economy. The grant lets employers choose who to train, and what skills to focus on to address their needs. Employers can use the grant to train new hires and incumbent employees to upgrade their skills.

Employers

• Identify training needs and training participants
• Submit Ontario Job Grant (OJG) applications
• Enter into OJG agreements, including:
  • understanding and agreeing to the employer contributions
  • providing payment for training
  • coordinating training with the training provider
  • providing required documents to receive payments
  • participating in follow-up process

Participants

• Provide information on the Participant Registration Form
• Attend training
• Participate in follow-up process

Trainers

• Develop and deliver the training
• Declare any conflict of interest between the employer and training participants on attestation forms
• Enter into an agreement with the employer
• Provide relevant business information required for the employer to input on the OJG application

Funders

• Government of Canada, through the Labour Market Development Agreement and the Workforce Development Agreement
• Government of Ontario

The Ministry (MLITSD)

Administers agreements with employers who apply for OJG including:

• creation of service plans for employers and participants
  • issuing payments to employers
• conducting monitoring of ministry funded training
• performing follow-up with employers and participants
• Verify employer and individual eligibility
• Create and maintain employer and individual service plans
• Review, assess and make funding decisions for OJG employer applications
• Manage government funding contribution to training including:
  • Validating employer payments to training providers
  • Recovery of training funds refunded by training providers due to cancellation, early termination, etc

The OJG supports eligible training costs up to a maximum of $10,000 per trainee, with additional flexibility for small employers. Moreover, small employers (less than 100 employees) who are training and hiring unemployed individuals may be eligible for 100% funding and up to $15,000 per trainee. Funding eligibility will be assessed by the ministry.

Eligible training costs are as follows:

• Tuition or other training provider fees
• Textbooks, software and other required materials such as: training, clothing, tools, and equipment (Maximum support is $500 for each trainee)
  • Other required materials cannot be the price of new equipment or the combination cost of training and new equipment.
• Mandatory student fees
• Examination fees
• Travel costs (Maximum support is $500 per trainee and is only supported if the trainee is travelling over 24 km each way)
• Costs associated with support services and/or equipment for persons with disabilities

Employers that wish to access the grant are responsible for identifying the particular skills gaps they wish to address, the types of training that would address those gaps, and the specific individuals they would like to see trained.

Small employers (less than 100 employees) are required to make minimum one-sixth cash contributions towards eligible training costs. Large employers (100 or more employees) are required to make minimum one-half cash contribution towards eligible training costs. Where an employer makes the minimum contribution of the eligible training costs, the grant will pay remaining eligible training costs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per individual.

Small employers (less than 100 employees) who are training and hiring unemployed individuals may be eligible for 100% funding and up to $15,000 per trainee. The application will be automatically assessed for 100% funding.

A minimum one-sixth (one-half for large employers) contribution must be made for each participating individual (i.e., an employer cannot contribute more than one-sixth for some individuals and less than one-third for others).

Employers must not request that training participants pay for the cost of training (full or employer’s contribution) or attempt to recoup training costs following the completion of training.

The ministry requires documentation and verification from both employers and trainees as part of the application and review process.

Employers will be required to provide:

• A completed OJG Employer Application and required attestations confirming that training does not displace existing staff or replace workers currently on lay‑off
• Confirmation of employer size and eligibility
• Documentation supporting training costs and employer contributions (e.g., invoices, receipts, quotes where required)
• Signed employer and training provider attestations confirming eligibility and there are no conflicts of interest between the employer, training provider, trainees, or product vendors
• Additional documentation if requested by the ministry for assessment, monitoring, or verification purposes

Trainees will be required to provide:

• A completed Participant Registration Form confirming residency and legal entitlement to work in Canada, employment status and employment history prior to hire
• Additional participation and training completion information if requested by the ministry

To be eligible for the $15,000 maximum funding amount, both of the following conditions must be met:

• The employer is a small employer with fewer than 100 employees; and
• The trainee is a new hire who was previously unemployed, as defined under the OJG.

Eligibility will be verified by the ministry through review of the documents noted above, including reviewing documentation, comparing information across forms, and contacting trainees where required. Providing false or misleading information may result in refusal of the application or termination of an approved agreement.

No. Only requests for funding that have been approved prior to the start of the training are eligible for funding. Applications submitted after the start or completion of training are not eligible for Ontario Job Grant funding.

If any training changes occur after the OJG training agreement has been signed, the employer must immediately notify their assigned Employment and Training Consultant (ETC). Some common changes that may occur include, but are not limited to:

• Change in training start and/or end date
• Change in training duration
• Change of training curriculum
• Change in number of participants attending training
• Change to cost of training

An agreement amendment may be required depending on the changes affecting training. Any financial changes, specifically in instances when an employer receives a refund from the training provider, may result in decrease of the ministry contribution and/or overpayment for the employer.

In cases when an overpayment has been established, the employer is required to return funds owing to the ministry.

Employer overpayments may deem them ineligible for future OJG funding, until the funds have been returned to the ministry.

For the purpose of Ontario Job Grant (OJG), a conflict of interest includes any circumstances where the employer, or training provider, or any person who has the capacity to influence the employer’s or training provider’s decisions, has outside commitments, relationships or financial interests that could, or could be seen to, interfere with the OJG program objectives and integrity.

All parties involved in OJG funding, must disclose any, actual or potential, conflicts of interest involving the employer, training participants or product vendors.

For OJG, a conflict of interest may include any circumstance where the following party/parties:

1. the employer;
2. training provider; and/or
3. any person related to, affiliated with, or has the capacity to influence the employer’s or training provider’s decisions

has/have outside commitments, relationships, or financial interests that could, or could be seen to, interfere with the program’s objectives and integrity.

The employer must disclose the conflict of interest to the ministry and take necessary steps to resolve the conflict or decide to move forward with a different training provider. Failure to follow direction on conflict of interest disclosure and its resolution, if applicable, may lead to the denial of a OJG application.

As part of the OJG application process, both the employer and the training provider attest that there are no undisclosed conflicts of interest, actual or potential, involving the Training Provider and Employer, Trainees, the product vendor, or any person related to, affiliated with, or has the capacity to influence the employer’s or training provider’s decisions, who could have outside commitments, relationships, or financial interests that could, or could be seen to, interfere with the program’s objectives and integrity.

Individual private and not-for-profit sector employers are eligible to apply for the grant. Eligibility criteria apply to all employers regardless of whether they are training one or multiple individuals.

An employer must:

• make required cash contributions towards training costs
• employ the individual selected for training. If the employer has hired an unemployed individual to fill a vacancy, the offer of employment can be conditional upon the individual having completed training and subject to the employer’s regular probationary period
• have a physical location in Ontario and have been actively operating or carrying out business at that location for at least one year prior to application
• be applying for training that is delivered in Ontario and is related to a job that is also located in Ontario
• comply with all applicable legislation, such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Employment Standards Act
• maintain appropriate Workplace Safety and Insurance Board or private disability insurance coverage
• have adequate third-party general liability insurance
• comply with all applicable federal and provincial human rights legislation, regulations, and any other relevant standards

An employer must not:

• be a federal, provincial or municipal government and/or agency
• be a designated broader public sector organization, as defined by the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act
• be district social services administration boards established under the District Social Services Administration Boards Act (notwithstanding their exclusion under the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act)
• be an Employment Ontario or Integrated Employment Services (IES) service provider, or Service System Manager
• be currently in receipt of other government funds related to the same skills training for the same individual (e.g., Better Jobs Ontario or the Skills Development Fund)
• use training participants to displace existing staff or replace staff who are on lay-off
• compel individual participants to pay any part of the employers OJG contribution related to training, either directly or indirectly. The employer’s contribution is the employer’s alone

Funding requests for employers who have previously received COJG or OJG funding would have past training outcomes taken into consideration as part of their OJG application assessment. Positive outcomes from previous OJG training include, but are not limited to, training participants moving from:

• Unemployment to part-time or full-time employment
• Part-time to full time employment
• Seasonal employment to year-round employment
• Lay-off notice to stable employment
• Lower wages to higher wages and a better position

Employer will be deemed ineligible for future funding, if they did not meet their obligations associated with the previously approved application or have been found to have provided false information to the ministry, including providing information to circumvent the application guidelines.

All applications from employers or trainers associated with individual(s), who have previously misused the program through another organization will also be deemed ineligible for OJG funding.

The employer will also be deemed ineligible if:

• They do not follow through on anticipated action post-training, as outlined in the OJG funding application
• Documentation requested by the ministry is not submitted
• Failed to inform the ministry of a participant(s) withdrawal from training, and the Ministry was still required to pay for the training
• Approved for multiple grants in the past but withdrew or did not follow through on training
• Ministry’s quality assurance processes, audits, surveys and any other means of verifying information on previous applications reveal that false or misleading information was provided to the ministry

As per the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, a “designated broader public sector organization” means,

• every hospital
• every school board
• every university in Ontario and every college of applied arts and technology and post-secondary institution in Ontario whether or not affiliated with a university, the enrolments of which are counted for purposes of calculating annual operating grants and entitlements
• every approved agency designated as a children’s aid society under subsection 15 (2) of Part I of the Child and Family Services Act
• every community care access corporation
• every corporation controlled by one or more designated broader public sector organizations that exists solely or primarily for the purpose of purchasing goods or services for the designated broader public sector organization or organizations
• every publicly funded organization that received public funds of 10 million dollars or more in the previous fiscal year of the Government of Ontario
• every organization that is prescribed for the purposes of this definition; (“organisme désigné du secteur parapublic”) “hospital” means
  • a public hospital,
  • a private hospital that received public funds in the previous fiscal year of the Government of Ontario, and
  • the University of Ottawa Heart Institute/Institut de cardiologie de l’Université d’Ottawa; (“hôpital”)

Yes. An employer may apply for the grant more than once, as long as they continue to meet the employer eligibility criteria.

As there is a fixed total budget for the grant, applications will be assessed on an individual basis and prior funding does not entitle an employer to future funding. However, employers who have not received funding in the past six months will be given a higher priority.

For the OJG program, organizations that share the same Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) number are considered to be the same employer. This applies to different branches of a company and franchises with the same CRA number.

Employers may only submit one OJG application at a time. Each training plan would be required to stand on its own merit and be assessed against the priorities of the program.

Employers who have received funding in the past six months will be given a lower priority on the subsequent applications. In situations where funding is limited, lower priority applications may not be approved.

Training must meet the following criteria:

• Be delivered in Ontario
• Related to a job that is located in Ontario
• Must be completed within 52 weeks of the training start date
• Be delivered by an eligible training provider
• Must not have started prior to funding approval
• Online training that is eligible to be funded can be a blended model and is not limited to in-person training/modules
• Each application is restricted to one course. Multiple modules of one course may be accepted but must be delivered by the same training provider to the same individuals

Ineligible Training

• The ministry will not provide Ontario Job Grant (OJG) funding to an employer for training the employer must provide according to law
• Product vendors are ineligible to deliver training on how to use the product or service
• Executive training courses (e.g. Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)) are ineligible for OJG funding. This includes training that supports specialized learning and development programs for senior leaders within an organization, such as leadership and strategic planning, change management, communications, and emotional intelligence
• Preparatory training courses (e.g. LSAT, MCAT, GMAT)
• Apprenticeship training
• Business Consulting services
  • Training to be conducted at conferences or workshops is ineligible for OJG funding
• Curriculum development
• Training that exceeds one year in duration
• Membership fees, subscription fees, annual fees, and professional association fees are all ineligible for OJG funding

If an institution has been issued a notice, order and/or financial penalty that has not been rectified they are not in compliance with the Act and are therefore ineligible to be a trainer under the Ontario Job Grant.

Information related to college enforcement actions issued under the authority of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 can be found on Career college compliance notices.

If any enforcement actions taken against the training institution are noted on the website, the employer must request proof from the institution that they have rectified the sited problems. It is the trainer’s responsibility to demonstrate they have rectified the issue that generated the notice, order and/or financial penalty.

Training supported through the grant focuses on occupation-specific skills that address more immediate gaps or needs identified by an employer.

Offering training of up-to-one year in duration allows grant resources to be directed towards addressing the immediate skills gaps identified by employers.

The training agreement cannot exceed one year in duration (i.e. 52 weeks). Breaks or multiple modules are allowable within that one year (i.e., 12 months). Therefore, the training must all take place within the year. If the employer would like further training or additional courses that exceed the year, they must submit a separate Employer Application Form. Applications are assessed on an individual basis and there is no guarantee that additional training will be approved.

No. Apprenticeship training is not eligible for funding under the OJG. In-class apprenticeship training is already funded by the ministry through the In-Class Enhancement Fund.

OJG does not cover training that an employer would be required to provide according to law. In some cases, an employee is required to have a certification/training according to law but it is not the employer’s responsibility to provide it. In those circumstances, the training is eligible for funding under OJG.

A training provider’s prior experience participating in OJG (and formerly COJG) projects will be taken into consideration. A trainer may not be able to participate if:

• They have been found to have abused OJG funding in the past; or
• The controlling parties of the trainer, either as individuals or as the controlling party of another organization, were found to have abused OJG funding in the past

A qualified instructor must have experience working in the vocation or teaching a program to prepare a student for the vocation.

The specifics on trainer qualifications and other program requirements are outlined in the new Ontario Job Grant Application Guidelines.

No. An individual is not eligible to apply directly. Individuals working with an employment service provider may be recommended to an employer to hire, however, it is the employer’s choice who to hire and train.

All people who are: residents of Ontario and either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or protected person, and meet the eligibility requirements below, are eligible to participate in training funded through OJG.

Eligibility requirements are as follows:

• Employed individuals must be identified by their employer
• An individual must not be participating in full-time training or education or any other government training intervention that offers funding support for same tuition, books or other training related costs (e.g., Better Jobs Ontario or the Skills Development Fund Training Stream)

In the OJG context, full-time training is defined by the training provider.

To be eligible to participate in OJG, an individual must be employed by the employer prior to training. In the context of this program, an individual is eligible to participate in OJG if they are considered an employee of the organization and are (or will be) on the employer’s payroll prior to training.

If an individual is paid on commission only, they may still be eligible if they are considered an employee of the organization.

Business owners, including individuals with a controlling interest in corporations, are not eligible as trainees under OJG. Since the employer decides who the OJG trainees will be it would be a conflict of interest for a business owner (or majority shareholder) to be designated a trainee.

Trainees can only participate in one training course at a time and may not repeat the same training. Trainees may be put forward by their employer to participate in subsequent training through a separate application.

For questions about eligibility for the OJG program, please email OntarioJobGrant@ontario.ca.

Once an employer has submitted an application, please contact the assigned Employment and Training Consultant (ETC) for any further assistance.

Please contact the Employment Ontario Contact Centre at their toll-free number: 1-800-387-5656, or through the TTY line: 1-866-533-6339, or on the ministry’s website.