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B.C. job training fund increased for developmentally disabled

COVID-19 has affected 1,100 ‘precariously employed’ people
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Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons was appointed to the NDP cabinet as minister of social development and poverty reduction after the October 2020 B.C. election. (Hansard TV)

The B.C. government is allocating its second $5 billion response plan for COVID-19 recovery funds, with $10 million being added for training to get developmentally disabled people back into the workforce.

COVID-19 has made a difficult employment situation worse for people who are “precariously employed,” and about 1,100 people have lost their jobs due to pandemic restrictions, Social Development Minister Nicholas Simons said Jan. 18.

Most of the increased funding is available to the 100 contractors who provide training services to Community Living B.C., the province’s manager of home and group home care. Administered by Inclusion B.C., a non-profit, applications for the new fund open at 7 a.m. on Jan. 25 and will be accepted until midnight on Feb. 15. A $300,000 portion is to be used to improve “digital literacy” for all CLBC clients.

With the next provincial budget delayed until April, the NDP government is distributing its second $5 billion fund of borrowed coronavirus relief money, authorized by the B.C. legislature after being unveiled as “Stronger B.C.” on the eve of the October election.

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@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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