![Apprenticeship Completion Grants Photo - Students learning to lay brick.](https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20131002214159im_/http://www.actionplan.gc.ca/sites/default/files/styles/blog/public/grfx/initiatives/Masonry_003.jpg?itok=B8vHoz7i)
Through Canada's Economic Action Plan 2009, the federal government made a commitment to encourage skilled trades and apprenticeships by investing $40 million per year in the Apprenticeship Completion Grant (ACG), which complements the existing Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG). Both the ACG and the AIG represent a total investment of $115 million per year. Approximately 25,000 apprentices who complete their apprenticeship training and become certified journeypersons in a designated Red Seal trade receive an ACG each year.
About the Program
The ACG is a $2,000 taxable cash grant designed to encourage apprentices registered in a designated Red Seal trade to complete their apprenticeship program and receive their journeyperson certification. The ACG was launched in July 2009, with eligibility made retroactive to January 1, 2009. The AIG provides a taxable grant of $1,000 per year to those apprentices who successfully advance from one year (level/block) to the next in the first two years of an apprenticeship program in a designated Red Seal Program trades. The AIG was launched in January 2007.
Who Is Eligible
Apprentices registered in a Red Seal trade, that is designated as such in the province or territory in which they receive journeyperson certification, are eligible to apply for the Grants. For the ACG, the apprentices must have successfully completed their apprenticeship training in a designated Red Seal trade and obtained their journeyperson certification on or after January 1, 2009, to be eligible for the grant. Apprentices must apply by June 30 of the year after they complete their certification. For the AIG, the apprentices must have completed the first year (level/block) or second year (level/block) of an approved apprenticeship program on or after January 1, 2007. Apprentices must also apply by June 30 of the year after they complete their level or block.
How It Works
The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program represents a national standard of training excellence in the trades and is highly valued by employers. In 2011, over 264,000 apprentices were registered in the Red Seal trades. This number represented almost 80 per cent of all apprentices in Canada as well as a substantial portion of the trades workforce. Apprentices may also be eligible for the AIG. They can apply for a $1,000 taxable cash grant when they complete the first and/or second year or level of their apprenticeship training in a designated Red Seal trade, to a lifetime maximum of $2,000. As a combined result of the ACG and AIG, apprentices who complete their apprenticeship training and become certified journeypersons in a designated Red Seal trade could be eligible to receive up to $4,000.
Initiative Update
As of September 15, 2013, Service Canada has issued more than 107,000 ACGs and more than 320,000 AIGs since program inception.
Find Out More
Detailed information on the grants, along with the application form, is available on the Service Canada website or by calling 1-866-742-3644 or TTY 1-866-909-9757.