Manitoba Metis Federation

Minister: John Fleury

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 MARKED the completion of the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement (AHRDA) and Strategy. With the close of this Agreement came a successor strategy that symbolized renewed partnership and commitment for providing quality training and employment services - the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS). The ASETS Agreement was signed during the last AGA, on date.

For the past several months, the MMF has focused on assessing the current labour market and youth training programs and services that are delivered both regionally and provincially. These programs, coupled with additional supports as need-ed, aim to enable unemployed or underemployed clients Metis, Non-Status and Inuit) to better engage in the workforce, and therefore improve quality of life for them and their families.

Implementing the ASETS Agreement brought new challenges and time-consuming responsibilities; however, during this period, the MMF was still successful in providing the same level of services. Throughout the entire 10 year strategy, we pro-vided services to 27,162 clients and assisted 14,389 to gain employment.

Partnerships are a major focus of the ASETS Strategy. The MMF has always seen partnerships and strategic thinking and planning as central to ensuring the best possible outcome for our clients. To this end, the MMF recently signed an Agreement with Bison Transport to provide training and subsequent full-time/permanent employment for 10 long haul truck drivers. The MMF is also in discussions with Capital Steel, Manitoba Lot-teries and Corrections Canada to develop new and diverse partnership opportunities.

Further success can be seen in the graduation of 31 LPN students; 19 from Selkirk and 11 from Cranberry Portage. This operated through funding that was only accessible to AHRDA holders. The program was 16-18 months long. The MMF is extremely proud of all their funded grads.

ENDOWMENT FUND

Our bursary endowment fund is over $10 million and has been established through partnerships with the University of Brandon, College Universitaire de Saint Boniface, University College of the North, University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg. From 1998-2008, 1814 students applied for bursaries and 665 bursaries were awarded totalling $955,500.00.

During the 2010/2011 fiscal year, 191 students applied for bursaries which 123 received a bursary with a total value of $178,900.00.

• ASETS Programs and Services (PDF Format)
• ASETS ETP Booklet (PDF Format)

For more information on ASETS, please visit their website at mmfemployment.ca