All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and it's regarding the trade and occupation wage subsidy program.
Mr. Speaker, employers who -- tradespeople, that is, can hire trades apprentice up to 3200 hours, and they can help through a subsidy program for a max of $9 per hour, I believe for a male apprentice, and up to $16 an hour for a female apprentice. All excellent. My question starts with when was the last time this program subsidy has been reviewed, if the Minister is aware of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, at my fingertips right here, I couldn't share with the Member the history on when that was increased. But I do believe that there was work done on this in the 19th Assembly. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we often talk about not getting enough tradespeople into the program of -- into the system. Often I hear from employers who are tradespeople saying they can't afford to hire a tradesperson. It's not the subsidy program that's the problem. It's actually the bridge to the solution. In other words, they can't make enough money on the first and second year of the trades -- the apprentice and hence, you know, they don't want to take someone on because they're struggling in the management.
Mr. Speaker, is there a way to revisit this particular initiative to take some analysis as to our return on investment. In other words, if we bump the subsidy up, do we think we get more trades apprentices into the program and meet the needs of Northerners? Does the Minister -- could the Minister see an opportunity of doing some type of evaluation like that? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly see the value of trades across the Northwest Territories and want to ensure that we're always looking at more ways to attract people within this field. That's why we also have the SNAP program where we also support wage subsidies for high school students to get involved. And so I have not been contacted by employers who are feeling that this is particularly the area where they're struggling. There are certainly other ideas that have been afforded to me, and I invite all opportunities to chat with anybody about our trades opportunities. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess to my question again, would the Minister be willing to take on some type of evaluation to see if we can get more tradespeople -- sorry, more apprentices into the trades by adjusting or meeting further needs of the employers who end up spending a lot of money and time and energy that they can't get as a return by constantly mentoring. And that's the key to the program, obviously, but it's a financial loss for them for the first two years to get ahead. So I'm asking can she -- would she commit to reviewing this and doing some analysis to see if we can get a better return and more people in the trades and in the communities and the North at large? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently in the Northwest Territories -- and I believe I shared this statistic last night -- there's over 330 apprentices in the Northwest Territories; a number I think that we should all be very proud of and continuously working to see that grow. 47 percent of those apprentices are Indigenous NWT residents. And currently right now we're in the middle of a two-year extension to our apprenticeship trade and occupational certification strategy. And so surely at the end of that strategy, we'll be looking for a reset and this is a great time to incorporate some of the work that the Member is talking about. Thank you.
