Conservatives To Bring Back ‘More Boots, Less Suits,’ To Train 350,000 Trades workers
Plan brings back apprenticeship grants Liberals are ending, funds training halls for 350,000 workers—to take back control of our economy from the Americans.
March 21, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa, ON – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said today that his Canada First Conservative Government will boost training for the next generation of workers. ‘More Boots, Less Suits’ is part of Poilievre’s Bring It Home Economic Plan with more training halls, direct grants and faster EI to apprentices in the licensed trades to deliver powerful paycheques and making us less dependent on the Americans. Poilievre’s plan will:
- Reinstate apprenticeship grants of up to $4,000. The previous Conservative government created these grants, but the Carney-Trudeau Liberals will cancel it at the end of this month, leaving Canadian workers behind.
- Fund training halls that will skill up 350,000 young workers over 5 years by expanding the Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP). Conservatives will make sure the actual buildings and centres where these people get trained are also eligible for UTIP funding. Smaller unions will also have equal access to funding that covers as much as 75% of the costs of building and running these programs.
- Create a special class of rapid EI payout for skilled tradespeople by allowing union training centers and colleges to pre-register apprentices for EI. Trades workers will now quickly get support they are entitled to.
- Work with the provinces to harmonize health and safety regulations so our tradespeople can work anywhere in Canada without redundant retraining.
“Conservatives are ready to fight for Canada’s workers. With Donald Trump threatening tariffs on our economy, we must bring home our paycheques and production, and take back control of our economy from the Americans,” said Poilievre. “That means quickly training up Canadians who know how to build, develop and transport the goods the world needs.”
After a lost Liberal decade, Canada’s economy has never been more weak and reliant on the Americans. Liberal economic vandalism has resulted in the worst decline in Canadians’ standard of living in forty years. Carpenters who build our homes can no longer afford to buy them after the Liberal Government doubled housing costs. And out-of-control Carney-Trudeau spending has resulted in Canada’s middle class paying more taxes now than when the Liberals first came to power a decade ago. All of this before the tariffs began. Now they expect to be rewarded with a fourth term in power to do even more damage.
“Common Sense Conservatives will work with our unions to champion workers and provide the investments needed to restore our country’s promise,” pledged Poilievre. “My Conservative Government will work for the people who do the work.”
We will pay for these investments by reducing the bloated federal government bureaucracy.
After the lost Liberal decade, electing them a fourth time will only make things worse. It is time to put Canada First for a change. Pierre Poilievre will restore Canada’s promise. Where hard work gets you a great life, in a beautiful home, on a safe street, protected by solid borders and brave troops under a proud flag. That’s what it means to put Canada First.
