The changes and program guidelines will be in effect August 20, 2025. The program guidelines will be updated and posted to the Employment Ontario Partners’ Gateway (EOPG). Service providers will be notified of this change via the EOPG. The ministry’s train-the-trainer model will be used to provide information on the revised Better Jobs Ontario program… Continue reading When will these most recent changes be in effect and be communicated to service providers?
Sub-Topic: General
What are the key changes being made to Better Jobs Ontario?
Several changes have been made so that Better Jobs Ontario (BJO) can better support people negatively impacted by tariffs, including: All eligible applicants will now qualify for up to two years of training supports (previous maximum one year); All eligible applicants can now qualify for up to $35,000 for training longer than one year; Clients… Continue reading What are the key changes being made to Better Jobs Ontario?
Why is Better Jobs Ontario being updated?
The 2025 Ontario provincial Budget committed to investing an additional $50M into the program in 2025-26 to support vocational and skills training to enable more people to transition into in-demand jobs and support key labour market needs. This new funding is meant to ‘fast-track’ training access for job seekers in trade-impacted sectors, helping to protect… Continue reading Why is Better Jobs Ontario being updated?
If a participant identifies him or herself with English as their first language but prefers to receive service in French, will that be understood by the ministry or will that show the ministry that this French Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) service provider is serving English participants?
Consideration would be given to the fields that a learner selects on the LBS Participant Registration form, which is then entered into EOIS-CaMS. The ministry will read what is selected on the form as selected by the learner.
How is ‘training’ defined? How is this different from the definition of ‘education’?
The ministry expects service providers to use their professional judgement when determining if an activity is better defined as training or as education. The ministry suggests considering things including but not limited to the type of service provider who delivered the training/education (ie. training provider vs ministry of education/college/university), duration and intensity of the training/education,… Continue reading How is ‘training’ defined? How is this different from the definition of ‘education’?
How long can a client be on the Case Activity Report (Report 61)?
Learners are filtered into the report based on their service plan being in an open, approved or active status, or being closed in the fiscal year. Therefore, the longest they could be shown on the Case Activity Report is any given fiscal year where they had a service plan in open, approved or active status.
Can one learner have more than one active Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) service plan with the same site?
No. A learner can only have one active LBS service plan with one service provider. Clients may have concurrent service plans (open, approved or active) of different program types (i.e., a client could have active Employment Service (ES) and LBS service plans at once). In addition, an LBS learner may also have multiple LBS service… Continue reading Can one learner have more than one active Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) service plan with the same site?
Is there a clear definition of “milestone complete” in the LBS data dictionary?
No, the data dictionary does not define how a service provider determines a milestone to be complete. Selection and user guides for milestones and culminating tasks are all available on the password protected Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework Repository.
In the eligibility criteria, please explain the 10 per cent population exception limit (those below 19 years old).
On an exception-only basis, Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) service providers may serve young adults between ages 16 and 18 who demonstrate the maturity to benefit from adult education. However, returning to the regular school system should be the priority for these learners. LBS service providers may allow age exceptions, not exceeding 10 percent, of… Continue reading In the eligibility criteria, please explain the 10 per cent population exception limit (those below 19 years old).
Do carryover clients need a fresh milestone every fiscal year to be counted as a learner?
Yes, to demonstrate ‘progress’ on Report 64, the learner must complete at least one milestone within the reporting period.