Sudbury’s Learning Initiative is looking for new ways to support entrepreneurs in Sudbury as their self-employment program loses its function as an administrator of provincially-funded programming.
In May, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) cancelled its 10-year-old Ontario Self-Employment Benefit program (OSEB). The money will be redirected into the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Infrastructure (MEDEI) and other programs. How precisely it will be divided and distributed is yet to be announced.
Anne Cooper is the director of programming at the Learning Initiative, which has been running its self-employment program since 1995, when she first bid on a request for proposals by the federal government. In 2005, the responsibility for such programming was transferred to the provincial government and in 2006, the Learning Initiative got approval to deliver OSEB programming through its existing self-employment program.
Since 2006, the Learning Initiative has been able to assist OSEB recipients from various backgrounds and across industries complete training and pursue successful careers.
OSEB provided people who were unemployed with 42 weeks of employment of insurance while they completed an approved self-employment program like the one offered by the Learning Initiative. Cooper said that while their course was open to anyone, the majority of participants were recipients of OSEB.
“Many of our clients, probably at least 70 per cent of our clients, would not start a business if they weren’t in a program like OSEB,” explained Cooper. “It permits them to save their money and train for doing their startup because it allows them to stay on their EI.”
Cooper estimates that recipients brought at least $1 million to $1.5 million to the Sudbury economy each year, simply by qualifying for and completing the program. There was a 95 per cent success rate, and a 2014 survey indicated a 67 per cent five-year success rate which suggests the economic impact was even greater.
Cooper is worried about the impact this cutback will have on the Sudbury economy and community. The program graduates around 40 to 50 people each year, which means the funding that was going into the Sudbury economy to support them will no longer exist.
“It’s a lot of communities affected, but it’s going to be hard on smaller communities, like ours, Kapuskasing, Marathon, those especially in the North,” said Cooper. “In Toronto, there’s a huge diversification of the economy, so it’s a little bit easier to find other ways to do things. It’s tough up here.”
Ivan Vincent is a graduate of the Learning Initiative’s OSEB program. Finding himself unemployed, Vincent decided to pursue self-employment and finally start farming, a long-time dream.
“This was something I had wanted for many years, but had no idea how to get it all started,” said Vincent. “I knew my business would have a high startup cost and I would require grants to achieve this. All the grants require a business plan, and no one wants to give money to a half-thought-out scheme.”
When Vincent completed the program, he’d attended classes for weeks and developed a 56-page proposal that earned him a Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation grant to build a grow facility for gourmet mushrooms out of his Ugly Barn Farm in Markstay-Warren.
“I can earn a living from my family farm in Markstay doing something that I have always enjoyed and love,” said Vincent. “I feel very sad for folks who likely have fantastic business ideas but don’t know how to get it started, and this amazing opportunity has been taken out of the equation.”
The MTCU said the funding was pulled due to the high cost, low completion rates and low five-year success rates. Communities across Ontario and politicians, including NDP MP Peggy Sattler, are disputing this assertion and have begun a petition urging the province to reconsider their decision.
The Learning Initiative will continue to offer its self-employment training, but it won’t be accessible in the same way.
“People like Ivan who had lost their job and saw this as an opportunity to become self-employed through our program, now they can’t,” said Cooper.
