Canada-Alberta Job Grant

Temporary program changes

The following program changes expand eligibility to help businesses access the training they need. These temporary changes are effective from February 18, 2021 until February 28, 2022.

Eligible trainee now includes employed family members of eligible employers.
Business owners (incorporated, unincorporated, sole-proprietor, partnerships) with 4 or fewer employees, including all owners, are now eligible trainees.
Training is no longer required to be incremental.

Operational program changes

The following permanent operational changes will make the application process more efficient. These permanent changes are effective as of February 18, 2021.

Training can start once the application is received by the CAJG.
Employers may pay for training at any time. However, the training cannot start until all trainees have signed the application and the application is received by the CAJG.
Course information is no longer required to be listed on the training provider’s website.
Customized training is eligible.
Revised list of eligible and ineligible training cost. See the Applicant Guide for the full list.

Overview

The Canada-Alberta Job Grant is a training program where an employer applies on behalf of their present or future employees for eligible training costs. Employers decide who gets training and what type of training may be needed for their employees.

Funding provided by the Government of Canada through the Workforce Development Agreement.

Canada-Alberta Job Grant Applicant Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB)

COVID-19 response: Approved grants extension

Deadlines for current approved grants are extended by 3 months. Training can start within 9 months of grant approval and must be completed within 15 months of the training start date.

If a course is postponed, contact Canada-Alberta Job Grant (CAJG) to update your file when you get a new course date from the training provider.
If a course is cancelled, contact CAJG to withdraw. If you plan to re-apply for a course at a later date, get a refund from the provider or institution, not a credit.
If a course changed format from in-person to online, include this in the Training Completion Form. You don’t need to notify CAJG now.

Grant applications and training completion forms may take longer to process.

Email [email protected] if you have questions.

Funding

Eligible employers are required to contribute a minimum of one-third of the total training costs for existing employees. Government contributes two-thirds of the cost to a maximum of $10,000 per trainee per fiscal year. If hiring and training an unemployed Albertan, up to 100% of training costs could be covered, up to $15,000 per trainee.

Individual employers will have a cap of $300,000 for the amount of grant funding they can receive per fiscal year. This ensures that funding is available for as many Alberta employers as possible.

The CAJG is available for direct training costs only, including:

tuition fees or instructional fees charged by the training provider
mandatory student fees
examination fees
textbooks or software
other required materials directly relevant to the training course and distinct from materials required to run the employer's business
eligible travel cost for participant and trainers (outside of Edmonton and Calgary) when training is over 100 km one way within Alberta for small and medium-sized organizations (see Appendix A of the Applicant Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB) for details

Employee wages cannot be reimbursed through the grant and Income Support is not available for workers who are in grant-funded training.

Eligibility

Eligible employers

The CAJG is available to:

private sector employers, including sole proprietors and partnerships
non-profit sector employers
First Nations and Metis Settlements
the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (if in a community with a population of 100,000 or less)
Alberta Treasury Branches (if in a community with a population of 100,000 or less)

To be eligible, Alberta employers must have current or potential employees who need training to fill current or future positions.

Eligible trainees

CAJG trainees must be one of the following:

Canadian citizens
permanent residents
protected people under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) who are entitled to work in Canada
business owners (incorporated, unincorporated, sole-proprietor, partnerships) with 4 or fewer employees, including all owners, are now eligible trainees
employed family members

All eligible trainees must live in Alberta.

Ineligible trainees

The following individuals are not eligible as Canada-Alberta Job Grant trainees:

company owners (includes shareholders of a corporation and any member of the employer's board or council) of businesses with more than 4 employees
family members who are not current employees
Temporary Foreign Workers, or anyone temporarily working in Canada

Refer to the Canada-Alberta Job Grant Applicant Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB) for complete eligibility criteria.

Training providers

Employers are responsible for finding appropriate training providers and programs.

Training providers must be third-party trainers separate and distinct from the employer. The employer may not act as the training provider and the training provider may not employ the individual it is training. Training must be a main business activity of the training provider.

Training

Requirements

Training must:

total 21 instructional hours or longer per trainee per application
start within 6 months after receiving Canada-Alberta Job Grant approval
be completed within 52 weeks of the training courses start date
result in some credential (record of completion, certification, grade, and so on)

Training may be delivered on a full or part-time basis, and may be any combination of online, on-site or in a classroom setting.

Apprenticeship Technical Training programs and self-study models like instructional books or DVDs are not supported by the Canada-Alberta Job Grant.

Trainees receiving Employment Insurance (EI)

Employers must declare on the Canada-Alberta Job Grant Application if their trainee is receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.

A trainee receiving EI benefits must notify their EI case worker of the training as soon as possible, to ensure they continue to receive their benefits.

How to apply

Canada-Alberta Job Grant applications must be submitted through the online portal.

Step 1: Read the Applicant Guide

Canada-Alberta Job Grant Applicant Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB)

Step 2: Complete the correct application for your trainees

Go to Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal to complete the application.

Labour's Workforce Grants Portal

You only need to submit one application for all trainees taking the same training at the same time.

Check the Applicant Guide every time you apply to make sure you are up to date on the program requirements. If the application or supporting documents are incomplete your application will be rejected.

It is recommended that applications be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the start date of the training. Applications are not considered 'received' by the CAJG until ALL trainees have submitted their consent via email.

Use the following application checklist documents to ensure that all requirements are completed:

Canada-Alberta Job Grant Application Checklist for Employed Trainees (PDF, 406 KB)
Canada-Alberta Job Grant Application Checklist for Unemployed Trainees (PDF, 412 KB)

Receiving payment

In order to receive payment after applying online, complete these steps:

Step 1: Read the Training Completion checklist

CAJG Training Completion Form Checklist (PDF, 329 KB)

Step 2: Fill out the Training Completion

Access Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal to complete the Training Completion.

Check the applicant guide every time you apply to make sure you are up to date on the program requirements.

Employers may choose to receive 2 payment instalments by contacting the Canada-Alberta Job Grant team and requesting an interim reimbursement. This request can be made by contacting us.

If the employed trainee paid for the training costs, documentation must be included to show the employer has reimbursed the trainee for the full training amount paid to the training provider and any approved travel costs incurred by the trainee. Unemployed trainees are not permitted to fund their own training costs.

The Training Completion form must be submitted within 30 days of finishing training.

Providing payment information

The Government of Alberta's preferred method of payment is Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). It is a faster and more secure way to ensure your company is reimbursed without error. If you wish to receive payment by way of an EFT, you must upload the Request for EFT – Direct Deposit form (PDF, 76 KB) along with a void cheque into Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal when submitting your Training Completion form.

Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal

Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal gives employers access to apply for the Canada-Alberta Job Grant (CAJG) Program. Employers must:

submit application and training completion forms
view application status
upload documents to application
update company information

To access Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal you must have a MyAlberta Digital ID for Business account:

MyAlberta Digital ID for Business is used for logging into Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal. If you already have an account, please use that same username and password to access Labour’s Workforce Grants Portal.
First time users will need to create an account. You will be given this option when you try to access the portal. Use the Creating a MyAlberta Digital ID for Business guide.
Invite back-up users to the account to ensure access to it and the Grants portal are not lost.