Canada unveils C$6bn skilled‑trades package

Canada’s government used its spring economic update to launch a C$6 billion push into skilled trades while projecting a smaller deficit than it expected in November. (cbc.ca) (canada.ca) Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the update on Tuesday, April 28, in Ottawa. The document pegs the 2025-26 deficit at C$66.9 billion, C$11.5 billion lower than the fall forecast. (cbc.ca) (theglobeandmail.com) The headline measure is Team Canada Strong, a plan to recruit, train and hire 80,000 to 100,000 new skilled trades workers by 2030-31. CBC reported the package at C$6 billion over five years; the government’s release describes it as a nationwide effort tied to homebuilding and major projects. (cbc.ca) (canada.ca) One-third of the money is aimed at bringing more young people into the trades over the next five years, with ongoing annual funding after that. Canadians aged 15 to 30 would be eligible for paid, entry-level trades work that feeds into apprenticeships. (cbc.ca) (ipolitics.ca) The government also proposed wage subsidies of up to C$10,000 for an apprentice’s first-year salary through a Build Canada Apprenticeship Service. Another C$331 million over five years, plus C$18 million annually after that, would go to modernizing apprenticeship training and speeding the path to Red Seal certification. (cbc.ca) Ottawa is tying the trades package to two pressures at once: youth unemployment and looming labour shortages. March data cited in the coverage put unemployment for Canadians aged 15 to 24 at 13.8 per cent, more than double the national average. (ipolitics.ca) The longer-term shortage is larger. The spring update says Canada will need more than 1.4 million additional trades workers by 2033, while Parliament Today reported the government expects a persistent annual gap of more than 20,000 skilled trades workers. (ipolitics.ca) (parliamenttoday.ca) The fiscal room came from stronger revenues. CBC said officials pointed to a roughly C$60 billion windfall, helped by a resilient economy and higher oil prices, while the update still warned that tariffs and geopolitical conflict could hit growth and supply chains. (cbc.ca) (globalnews.ca) Champagne cast the trades push as a way to turn federal building plans into actual projects. The government’s own framing is that Canada should “build more homes and major projects at speed and at scale” even as it tries to diversify trade exposure and brace for a weaker global backdrop. (ipolitics.ca) (canada.ca)