News Release Archive

ECONOMIC RENEWAL--ERA CREATES 2,300 SUMMER JOBS
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  Economic Renewal Agency Minister Robbie Harrison said today
  the ERA will help create 2,300 jobs for students, and the
  unemployed, through summer employment programs, including an
  innovative program where the student loan gets paid, instead
  of the student.
  
  The largest program administered by ERA includes the Nova
  Scotia Employment Program for Students. ERA will help create
  900 jobs within non-profit and public sector organizations,
  by offering a wage subsidy to employers. Another 280 jobs
  will be added in recognized tourist bureaus around the
  province. ERA will create an additional 400 jobs at its
  provincial resorts; Keltic Lodge, Digby Pines and Liscombe
  Lodge under a separate budget. 
  
  The Municipal Works Program will allow municipal units in
  areas of high unemployment to hire up to 300 workers this
  summer. The province will cost-share up to 50 per cent of
  wages, to a maximum of five dollars per hour.
  
  The Economic Renewal Agency, in partnership with the
  Department of Education and Culture, is continuing last
  year's successful pilot Student Loan Employment program,
  offering 100 employment opportunities in non-profit
  organizations to post-secondary students. Instead of
  receiving a salary, the student would build up student loan
  credits, equivalent to minimum wage but applied directly to
  their tuition at a Nova Scotia university or community
  college. 
  
  Mr. Harrison said, "In its pilot year last summer, the
  Student Loan Employment program was very popular among
  employers and students alike. The program required the
  students to be proactive, finding an employer who would give
  them the kind of work experience that would lead to jobs
  after graduation."
  
  The Economic Renewal Agency and the Department of Education
  and Culture are combining their financial resources to
  provide one summer employment program aimed at the private
  sector. NS Links will create 300 jobs for students preparing
  for careers in firms using new technologies and techniques.
  "We listened to business owners and simplified the process
  so that applications are only made to one department instead
  of two," said Mr. Harrison. This is the only component of
  the Provincial Employment Program where the private sector
  is eligible to participate.
  
  ERA expects to create another 1,775 jobs in financial
  partnerships with other provincial government departments,
  once those departmental budgets are approved.
  
  
  The deadline for employers to submit project applications to
  ERA is March 8, 1996. The summer work term runs from May 21
  to Sept.7. Program applications and guidelines are available
  from any ERA office, including Business Service Centres,
  Access Nova Scotia Centres or any Canada Employment Centre.
  The information is also available from ERA's web site at
  https://novascotia.ca/ecor/request.htm.
  
  The Provincial Employment Program has been providing summer
  jobs for Nova Scotia students since 1978.
  
  -30-
  
  Contact: Linda Laffin 902-424-6810
  
  jlw                        Feb. 13, 1996   3 p.m.