The Jasper Adult Learning Centre is kicking off its season with a slew of new learning initiatives, made possible in part by a new government grant that will reimburse employers for employee training.
The Canada-Alberta Job Grant is set to start releasing funds this month. That means employers who want to upgrade their employees’ training can apply for up to $10,000 per employee in reimbursements.
According to Ginette Marcoux, the executive director of JALC, the money is available for everyone from entry-level workers all the way up to managers, and the centre is catering its programs to meet those needs.
She said she has been meeting with employers in town over the summer to talk about the needs of their staff, and what programs JALC could offer to provide for them.
“I think for sure our focus this year will be on the industry [and] tourism sector,” Marcoux said. “More and more we are finding that employers are requiring more skilled employees, especially as we compete with international markets and try to raise the service standards of the community.”
The grant requires employees to take 25-hours of training before their employers will be reimbursed, but several courses can be bundled together to reach that target.
Because of that, Marcoux said JALC hopes to offer several different courses that employers can mix and match to hit their 25 hour minimum.
“We will offer a variety—like a shopping basket—and provide all kinds of tourism-related training opportunities. And then employers could say ‘OK, we’ll take those five, and bundle those together’ to meet their specific training needs.”
Many of those programs are still in the planning stages, but Marcoux is already eagerly anticipating several of them.
A big program JALC will offer this season is a six-day leadership development program. She explained that since employers usually can’t afford to lose their employees for such a long stretch, the program will be split up over three months, with online mentoring offered in between classes.
She was also excited about another course—one “especially helpful for people who are in managerial or supervisor” positions— based on the Fierce Conversation Model. That course will aim to provide people with the skills to have difficult conversations with employees.
Another program that she hopes to offer is a tourism training program geared toward the unemployed or marginally employed. The 10-week course would run for 25 hours a week, provide participants with skills needed to succeed in a tourism economy and even include a week-long work placement.
“The programs that we are rolling out are really based on what employers are telling us is lacking in the workplace right now,” Marcoux said.
Last year, she explained, the centre helped 617 learners through a total of 81 training programs and workshops. She expects the Canada-Alberta Job Grant to bump those numbers, leading to an even busier year.
Her estimate is bolstered by the fact that several of the town’s biggest employers have already committed to sending their staff to the Share the Spirit program—a Jasper-specific training program the centre puts on in cooperation with the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, Municipality of Jasper, Parks Canada, Friends of Jasper and Tourism Jasper.
The centre follows the tourism cycle of the town, so it offers most of its programs from October to June, during the slow season.
