The Dust Settles on Budget Season 2013: What's In Store for Aboriginal Youth

With the 2013 budget season finally coming to a close, we at OUSA have been poring over the federal and provincial budgets to see just what theyll have in store for Ontarios post-secondary system. In honour of National Aboriginal Day, todays blog outlines the commitments made to Aboriginal youth in both documents. Last week, the Federal Government formally announced an investment of $241 million over four years to address First Nations youth employment at a press conference in Saskatoon. Included first in Economic Action Plan 2013, the Federal Government elaborated on how this new funding would be allocated, with $132 million to go towards identifying individual employment needs and removing barriers to employment for Aboriginal youth and the remaining $109 million going towards the creation of a First Nations Job Fund. $132 million of this funding will be directed towards overhauling the current Income Assistance program for Aboriginal youth a program that assesses an individuals eligibility for receiving assistance and arranges the payment of benefits. This funding will be used to move the Income Assistance program towards a more personalized service delivery model in which an individuals job readiness is assessed and barriers to employment are identified and addressed. Receiving $109 million over four years, the First Nations Job Fund will be designed to provide Aboriginal youth on Income Assistance with improved access to skills training and employment services supports. Activities sponsored by the fund will include skills assessment testing, job coaching and mentoring, rsum and interview workshops, temporary funding of living expenses and transportation costs while in training, funding for training courses and job equipment, and wage subsidies to incent employers to hire Aboriginal youth. Coupled with commitments to improve employment outcomes for Aboriginal youth, Economic Action Plan 2013 also included new funding commitments towards Aboriginal education initiatives that have seen comparatively less media play.

345-26 Soho Street | Toronto, Ontario M5T 1Z7 | t. 416.341.9948 f. 416.341.0358

Central to the Budgets Aboriginal education priorities was the affirmation of the Governments commitment to drafting a First Nations Education Act, in consultation with Canadas First Nations communities, by September 2014. In the works since 2010, the Act will aim to improve on-reserve education systems, improve graduation rates for Aboriginal youth, and explore new mechanisms for ensuring more predictable and sustainable funding for First Nations primary and secondary education. Alongside the creation of a First Nations Education Act, the Federal Government has proposed a $10 million investment over two years to support Indspire a national organization that aims to support, innovate and transform Aboriginal education in Canada. Formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Indspire has provided over $50 million in scholarships and bursaries for Aboriginal youth since its inception through the Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries and Scholarship Awards program, with 2200 Aboriginal youth collectively receiving $6.2 million in 2011-2012. In 2011-2012, Building Brighter Futures was able to meet approximately 20% of identified need from program applicants Indspire President and CEO Roberta L. Jamieson hopes that this new investment will allow the fund to address greater numbers of students and address more identified need for applicants. The Government of Canada has also committed $5 million towards the Cape Breton University Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies contingent on the Chair securing matching private funding. The Purdy Crawford Chair is designed to promote business as an area of postsecondary study for Aboriginal youth, while also conducting applied research into Aboriginal business models. Aboriginal students also appear in the 2013 Ontario Budget, albeit to a more limited extent than in Economic Action Plan 2013. Weve blogged a lot about the $195 million investment in the Ontario Youth Employment Fund here at OUSA, as its expected to create employment opportunities for over 25 000 youth. The Province has committed the Fund to focus on areas of the population with particularly high youth employment rates, and explicitly include Aboriginal youth in this group. The provincial Budget also commits the Province to an additional $5 million investment towards implementing the First Nation, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework. The goal of the framework will be to increase Aboriginal student achievement and lessen the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student achievement in Ontario. This funding will also develop

345-26 Soho Street | Toronto, Ontario M5T 1Z7 | t. 416.341.9948 f. 416.341.0358

strategies to support Aboriginal students transitioning from on-reserve education facilities to provincially funded schools. Finally, the Province has committed to developing the Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy a multi-year, community-driven plan that will identify service needs for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children, encourage Aboriginal communities to design and deliver services for children and youth, and promote culturally based services within these communities. What are your thoughts on the Aboriginal youth initiatives outlined in the 2013 budgets? OUSA would love to hear from you! Please email your thoughts to brandon@ousa.ca. Brandon Sloan OUSA Director of Communications

345-26 Soho Street | Toronto, Ontario M5T 1Z7 | t. 416.341.9948 f. 416.341.0358