Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP)

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A highly skilled Aboriginal workforce is key to Canada’s economic prosperity. The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program is helping to shape that workforce by directly matching skills development to economic opportunities.

Officially launched in 2003 as an $85-million five-year labour market initiative, ASEP is designed to maximize training and job opportunities in major economic development projects across Canada. It does this by meeting employers’ needs and labour market demands for skilled workers in a cross-section of large-scale industrial sectors that include forestry, mining, oil and gas, construction, and hydroelectric development.

Aboriginal young people account for the fastest growing segment of Canada's population. Faced with a shortage of skilled workers and a shrinking labour pool, companies looking to expand their workforce are discovering the potential of the Aboriginal labour force.

For young and working-age Aboriginal people, the choice of training opportunities and career pathways has never been greater. Job prospects for sustainable employment are opening up close to their home communities, especially in Canada’s more remote and northern locations.

As a pivotal part of the supply and demand equation, ASEP’s ultimate success is contingent on the strong partnerships forged between Aboriginal groups, federal, provincial and/or territorial governments, the private sector, labour, and educational institutions.

To be considered for funding under ASEP, project proposals had to clearly demonstrate a solid partnership arrangement and set out a comprehensive training-to-employment plan.

Each partnership had to encompass all Aboriginal communities neighbouring the economic development venture. They also had to demonstrate that they could share the cost of implementing the proposal with significant investment funding from the private sector/major employer, the provincial or territorial government and the Aboriginal groups involved. As part of the training-to-employment plan, the major employer had to guarantee a minimum of 50 longterm jobs for Aboriginal people by the completion of the project.

ASEP and the AHRDS complement each other; increasing Aboriginal labour market participation is a shared goal. In place since 1999, and recently renewed to 2009, the AHRDS relies on Agreement holders to design, develop, and deliver $1.6 billion worth of labour market programs and services custom tailored to meet community-specific needs.

Agreement holders under the Strategy can be instrumental in forming part of the Aboriginal component of an ASEP project’s partnership consortium.

As of early 2005, five projects have been officially announced with several more being finalized. These five projects will be receiving multi-year funding under ASEP that ranges from $2.87 million to $22 million. Over a fouryear lifespan, these projects are expected to result in training for at least 4,800 people in a variety of transferable skills, and in longterm jobs for more than 2,500 Aboriginal people.

The skills development targeted in each project’s training-to employment plan is designed to meet the labour requirements of a given project. Skills development can range from pre-employment training to job-ready basic skills, literacy and academic upgrading, vocation and trade-specific training, as well as counselling and other on-the-job supports.

Current ASEP projects involve 48 partners, including Aboriginal organizations, provincial and territorial governments, educational institutions, other federal government departments, and major industrial employers.

If you have any further questions about ASEP or its projects, send us an email at
Autochtone-Aboriginal@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca.