The Ontario government has launched the second round of funding through its Skills Development Fund (SDF) Capital Stream.

This round of funding is worth more than $74 million and is available to build, expand and retrofit training facilities for workers in the trades, including construction, manufacturing, technology and health care.

“Our government has an ambitious plan to build Ontario – from new housing that families can call home, to highways and public transit connecting our communities, to clean energy projects powering our economy,” said Labour Minister David Piccini. “With a new, second round of our Skills Development Fund Capital Stream, we are going to kick Ontario’s training capacity into high-gear, training over one million workers for in-demand careers in every corner of Ontario.”

The second round of funding includes an enhanced, streamlined application process that includes a new SEED pathway to help with the upfront costs of developing construction proposals, such as design drawings and technical plans. It addresses the needs of businesses and training providers who may lack the in-house capacity to develop complex construction plans. The Capital Stream will now also accept funding proposals all year round, which enables faster application reviews.

The new SEED pathway of the Capital Stream will help fund the development of capital plans for training facilities and will complement the already established GROW pathway that will continue to support projects to build, upgrade and expand new training infrastructure.