Minister of Labour Christina Gray made a stop in Cochrane on Wednesday (July 12)  to look at Cochrane's economic growth and how the provincial government can support the community and make life better.

One said program the government is running is the STEP program. STEP is a Summer Temporary Employment Program which provides eligible Alberta employers subsidy funding for 4 to 16 weeks to hire high school or post-secondary students into summer jobs from May to August.

In Cochrane alone, thirteen employers have received funding for 25 students this summer making up a total of $92,757 with top five employers being the Town of Cochrane, Great Things in Store, Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, The Crossing at Ghost River, and Bow Rivers Edge Campground.

Gray shares, one of the promises the NDP government made was to spend 10 million dollars to support students and businesses throughout Alberta. STEP was reinstated two years ago after the PCs cancelled the program, with the difference being small businesses could apply. "It had never been available to businesses before but we wanted to make sure we were helping local businesses as well as non-profits and other organizations; it has been very well received." 

The minister anticipates they will see continued utilization of the STEP program moving forward and hopes to see other industries across the province get involved. Minister Gray caught up with some of the students at SLSFSC who were hired through the program to help execute summer day camps, "I met one who was going on to potentially become a lawyer and a couple others interested in education. They are getting a great experience here and the government can help support that by covering their wage."

In order to be eligible for STEP program funding the student hired has to be returning to school in fall which usually means hiring a high school or post secondary student. Gray share the application process is becoming easier. "This year we actually made it easier so that if you were looking for more than one STEP student you only needed one application form so that is an approvement we made this year. That STEP process opens up in the spring, we ask everyone to submit their application forms and then we go through and weed those applications because it is so popular we end up having to waitlist some people because we get more applications than we can fund."

There are no restrictions on which businesses or organizations can apply.

Minister Gray was excited to see the economic growth in the Cochrane area as well as continue to build a strong relationship with Mayor and council. "I know for myself, it was incredibly valuable just to understand more about this wonderful town, the people who live here, and the economic growth that is taking place."