{"id":604733,"date":"2026-04-15T02:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T02:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604733\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T02:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T02:28:09","slug":"ontario-rejected-skills-development-fund-application-for-ttc-training-program-with-little-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604733\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario rejected Skills Development Fund application for TTC training program with little explanation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Documents obtained by CTV News show the Ontario government rejected a program to help 21 high school graduates learn trades at Toronto’s transit system. <\/p>\n

The Ontario government rejected a program that would have helped 21 high school graduates learn trades at Toronto\u2019s transit system using a boilerplate letter with little explanation, documents obtained by CTV News show.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s opposition parties say the \u201cSTEP+\u201d program could have been one of many deserving applicants that weren\u2019t given cash by the controversial $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund (SDF), even as money flowed to other programs including those connected to an adult entertainment club and someone who identified as the Ford family dentist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds to me like exactly the kind of program that the Skills Development Fund was designed to support,\u201d said NDP Leader Marit Stiles in an interview.<\/p>\n

\"\"Marit Stiles Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles speaks to CTV News Toronto. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe question you have to ask is, did they get rejected because they didn\u2019t have a connection to the Conservative Party, to Doug Ford, to [Labour Minister] Dave Piccini?\u201d<\/p>\n

Since December, Piccini has faced an investigation by the legislature\u2019s Integrity Commissioner into whether he broke any laws in his handling of the Skills Development Fund, which was flagged by Ontario\u2019s Auditor-General as not fair transparent, or accountable<\/a>, who also pointed out that lobbyists netted an outsized share of grants.<\/p>\n

Piccini hasn\u2019t said whether he\u2019s been interviewed by the Commissioner, Cathryn Motherwell, but said last week he is \u201cassisting her office with the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"David Piccini Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini speaks at a news conference. <\/p>\n

In the TTC\u2019s application, which was obtained by CTV News through a Freedom of Information request, the transit agency said the graduates would be provided with paid employment at the TTC\u2019s maintenance and repair facilities as well as a Level 1 Apprentice Training course at Centennial College.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is important because as more people retire from the skilled trades, attracting young apprentices into the field is critical to maintain a healthy workforce for decades to come, especially in public transit because it often requires specialized skills,\u201d the application says.<\/p>\n

The program, whose cost was pegged at $2.6 million, was supported by letters from Centennial College Associate Dean David Weatherhead and Toronto School District System Superintendent Roni Felsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Motive Power trades have always had a difficult time attracting young talent, and first-year apprentices find it challenging to land a job with a quality employer. This STEP+ program is the remedy. It will introduce more high school graduates to this industry and give them an opportunity to gain experience as an apprentice,\u201d Felsen wrote.<\/p>\n

On April 14, 2025, a staffer at the Ministry of Labour wrote to say, \u201cAfter careful review of your application, we regret to inform you that your organization\u2019s application\u2026was not selected for funding.<\/p>\n

\"\"TTC rejection letter <\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the large volume of applications received, the ministry is unable to offer individual debrief sessions,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n

On April 23, 2025, a TTC analyst wrote back to say, \u201cWe would appreciate any feedback available. Our project falls within the parameters of the program and we submitted a strong application\u2026 please let me know if it is possible to receive feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no response recorded in the package released under freedom of information.<\/p>\n

TTC provided documents, while Ministry\u2019s FOI response lags<\/p>\n

The application was provided to CTV News by the TTC in 27 days, which is under the established legal timeline of 30 calendar days.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other requests to the Ministry of Labour for information on other applications to the Skills Development Fund haven\u2019t been answered since September\u2014about 7 times as long.<\/p>\n

Reached at an unrelated announcement, Piccini said his staff are busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo compare the two is a bit unfair. Given the high volume that the government receives and the diligent work we do to make sure that individuals and organizations have their information protected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Opposition leaders say that transparency is important, given where some of the money went.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen million for a strip club owner, a few million for the family dentist. The stench of the Skills Development Fund is not going to be scrubbed off easily,\u201d said Liberal interim leader John Fraser in media scrums at Queens Park.<\/p>\n

RELATED STORIES:<\/p>\n

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner pointed out that Ontario\u2019s PC government is in the midst of changing provincial Freedom of Information laws to exempt the premier, cabinet ministers, and parliamentary assistants from being subject to the province\u2019s FOI laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have not forgotten that this government wasted $2.5 billion funneling money into a program that was there for workers into the hands of PC connected insiders and lobbyists and now they want to bring in FOI legislation that will restrict our ability to learn the details and depths of this particular scandal and other scandals. I don\u2019t think people are going to forget that,\u201d Schreiner said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Documents obtained by CTV News show the Ontario government rejected a program to help 21 high school graduates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[712,49,48,44],"class_list":["post-604733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}