"Helping People Help Themselves"
The Atlantic Grounfish Strategy Labour Adjustment Component
WHAT IS TAGS
The Atlantic
Groundfish Strategy (TAGS), announced on April 19, 1994,
is a five-year, $1.9 billion initiative, providing income support and labour
market adjustment
programs to fishers, plant workers and trawlerpersons affected by the East
coast
groundfish crisis. The labour adjustment component of TAGS stresses
participants'
involvement in skills development and training programs to prepare individuals
for
employment opportunities in a diversified and changing labour markets.
LABOUR ADJUSTMENT
- The labour adjustment component of TAGS provides income support
to
eligible fishers, trawlerpersons and plant workers who participate actively
in
the labour market adjustment programs offered under TAGS.
- Measures to assist individuals in labour adjustment include career planning
and counselling, mobility assistance and support for re-employment;
measures
to prepare individuals for work such as literacy and basic skills training;
and
measures to enhance employment opportunities such as support for
entrepreneurship, restoration of the environment and other community
activities.
HELPING PEOPLE
TAGS is guided
by a number of principles designed to help people
help themselves:
- Emphasis on individual career planning.
- Provision of assistance linked to active adjustment.
- Access and duration of assistance based on individual historical groundfish
industry attachment.
- An integrated approach stressing individual and community involvement.
- Emphasis on sustainable economic development and the long-term economic
future of Atlantic Canada.
CAREER PLANNING/EMPLOYMENT COUNSELLING
- Career planning and employment counselling are provided to assess
individual
employment possibilities, set goals and develop individual action plans.
- The objective is to improve an individual's chances of finding a job.
- A wide range of programs and services are available to assist people
in making
a transition to other employment.
OPTIONS
Training
- Financial compensation is available for training activities
such as: literacy
training, community-based adult basic education, university study programs,
leadership training, orientation/career gudiance training and
entrepreneurial
training.
Green Projects
- This initiative responds to the stated needs of individuals
who want the skills
and job experience to enable them to seize opportunities in the new
economy,
while ensuring responsible management of the regions' environment.
- Participants will be assigned to projects contributing to the preservation
and
enhancement of the environment, as part of a 52-week work and learn
cycle.
Employment Bonus
- An employment bonus is available if one finds and accepts work
outside
the
traditional fishery that pays less than their weekly income support,
but not
lower than the minimum provincial wage.
Wage Subsidy
- A wage subsidy is available to employers outside the traditional
fishery
sector
as an incentive to hire participants in permanent full-time employment
and
provide on-the-job training. Assistance is also available to help market
individuals to potential employers.
Self-Employment Assistance
- Eligible participants interested in establishing a business
outside the
traditional fishery have up to 52 weeks financial assistance available
to start
their own businesses, along with entrepreneurship training and technical
support.
Community Opportunities Pool
- The objective is to encourage people to remain active members
of society by
sharing their expertise and skills as community workers through activities
aimed at enhancing the well-being of their community.
- One can become a member of a community-based group (Community
Opportunities Pool) and participate in the development of an inventory
of
projects and voluntary activities to be performed by members of the
group.
Project proposals and voluntary activities may come from the Pool itself
or
from any other sponsor in the community: individuals, non-profit
organizations, municipalities, governements, and the private sector.
- Participation requires ones committment of normally four-to-six months
per
year in an assortment of projects and activities of benefit to the
community.
Training may also be provided.
Monthly Assistance
- If one wishes to relocate on a permanent basis to areas where
they can find
work, one may be provided with financial assistance. The cost of seeking
work, house-hunting and permanent relocation for them and their dependents
will be partially or fully offset.
- One remains eligible for support under the Employment Bonus or Portable
Wage Subsidy components.
Youth
- If one is under 25 years of age, he/she can be helped to prepare
for new
opportunities through literacy training, work experience, skills training
and
mobility. Every attempt will be made to create a partnership model
for
delivery between client, community-based agencies and government
(municipal, provincial and federal).
Fishery Older Worker Adjustment Program
- If one is a fish plant worker or a trawlerperson eligible to
TAGS and are
between 55-64 years of age or between 50-54 years of age and reach 55
while
eligible under TAGS and wish to retire from the fishery, he/she may
benefit
from this retirement program. Eligible older workers may receive income
supplement payments to a maximum of $1000/month until they reach 65
years of age.
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