Ontario offering free online job training for unemployed workers

Saying jobs are going begging for applicants, Ontario is spending $5.8 million to offer online training for up to 100,000 workers who've lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

The free online courses will be offered through Linkedin, a Microsoft social media platform for professional networking and career development, and its Linkedin Learning program.

Labour Minister Monte Mcnaughton said the courses will focus on helping job seekers develop skills for jobs in demand in Ontario.

“We want people to quickly access the training they need to qualify for these good, in-demand jobs to get people back on their feet,” Mcnaughton, the Lambton-kent-middlesex MPP, said Tuesday.

“Today, there are more than 250,000 jobs in Ontario going unfilled. Labour shortages are creating challenges for businesses. Each unfilled job is a paycheck ready to be collected by someone with the right skills,” he said.

The program will be paid for through a $115-million Ontario skills development fund to help workers hit by the fallout of the pandemic. Workers will be able to access more than 17,000 courses in fields such as information technology, finance and business administration, Mcnaughton said.

Participants will also receive support from employment coaches to help them choose courses that best match their goals.

The government says the partnership with Linkedin will not only speed up “re-skilling laidoff workers,” but also reach under-represented groups in the population that have a hard time accessing training.

“Work training in the world is changing, and we must keep up,” Mcnaughton said.

Paul Hubert, the chief executive of London employment agency Pathways Employment Help Centre, agreed that online learning programs offer flexibility to people looking to improve their skills, allowing those in rural areas or with busy family lives a chance to more easily access the content.

“It really opens up access to learning,” he said.

“You don't have to pick up and move your family, for example, to go back to school.”

Employers have also become more open about accepting online accreditation when considering job applicants, Hubert said, noting that post-secondary schools such as Fanshawe College and Western University have offered fully online programs for years now.

“There are master's degrees, MBAS that are entirely taught online, remotely, so I think employers have shifted their receptivity to different learning delivery platforms,” Hubert said.

But he also warned that online

We want people to quickly access the training they need to qualify for these good, in-demand jobs.

learning isn't the right approach for everyone or all careers.

“There are different learning styles and different learning needs, some of which can be met in a very accessible way online,” he said.

“However, many of the skills that are needed in the workforce, particularly in the skilled trades, are not accessible online, so we have to be careful to match the workforce's needs with the training approach.”

The online training program will be available to Ontario workers until March 31, 2022.

Applicants can contact Employment Ontario or sign up at linkedin.firstwork.org.