The province of Saskatchewan is responsible for training and
employment supports for Employment Insurance (EI) clients through
the Skills Training Benefits (STB) program . The main objective
of the STB program is to assist clients who are EI eligible
to return to the labour market as quickly as possible and to
improve their employability.
Skills Training Benefit (STB) is administered by Advanced Education and Employment through Canada-Saskatchewan
Career and Employment Services (Can-Sask) and through Student Financial Services Branch. STB is provided to
fund incremental costs of training, such as: tuition, books,
child care, transportation etc. STB is a taxable benefit. The
amount an individual gets through STB is negotiated with the
staff at the Can-Sask Offices.
To be eligible for STB you must have a valid Social Insurance
Number and you must be EI eligible.
An EI eligible person is:
A person who, when requesting financial assistance, is defined
as an unemployed insured person for whom a benefit period is
established or whose benefit period has ended within the previous
36 months; or
A person for whom a benefit period is established in the previous
60 months and who:
- Was paid special benefits during the benefit period;
- Subsequently withdrew from active participation in the labour
force to care for one or more of their new-born children or
one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption;
and is seeking to re-enter the labour force.
Can-Sask staff work with a client to complete a return to work
Action Plan. Developing the Action Plan involves reviewing the
client's abilities and skills to compete in the labour market,
assessing the client's work and education history, strengths,
challenges, abilities, employability skills and so on. The intent
of the Action Plan is to determine the client's needs and assist
the client to develop a return to work plan that is realistic
and achievable and the client agrees to.
Key features of the Skills Training Benefit are:
STB is not an entitlement
Each Action Plan is a personal and unique one.
Clients must make a contribution.
There are no automatic "allowances" or subsidies.
Costs and resources are taken into account in negotiating the
STB.
STB is a negotiated process, clients are expected to contribute
to their training. In consultation with a Career Employment
Councellor (CEC) the client and CEC will jointly determine the
amounts to be contributed toward studies. The contribution will
vary based on the resources available to the client. The resources
taken into account include: income and assets from all of the
client's sources, (and spouse's if applicable).
Several costs that the client may have while attending a training
program include:
Tuition, and student registration fees, costs of purchasing
instructional materials, such as books and equipment or any
other costs specified by the educational institution that are
required to take the training program.
Additional expenses in caring for dependents resulting from
participation in a training program. These may include the costs
of child care or caring for a dependent child who is infirm
or disabled.
Travel Costs, especially in rural and northern areas, clients
may have costs related to attending training.
Costs of meeting the needs of persons with disabilities may
be considered such as:
- the purchase of special equipment essential for pursuing studies
- additional costs for special transportation, when such transportation
is indispensable to participation in the training program
- the costs of adapting instructional materials, and
- the costs of special assistance (interpretation, transcription
of texts in Braille,)
