Transitional Assistance Program

The program’s final application period ended on August 31, 2009.

Applications are no longer being accepted.

Funding Priorities

The Transitional Assistance Program was designed to assist older workers in making the transition from their forest sector positions to retirement or other activities. Our goal has been to provide the greatest possible benefit to as many workers as possible, helping them make the transition while also ensuring their employers and communities are well positioned for success as forest sector market conditions improve.

In 2008, this program received a total of $85.5 million in funding. About $65 million went out to older forest workers during the first application period, leaving $20 million for the program to distribute in 2009.

To assist as many eligible applicants as possible and to position the industry for future success, in 2009 the program focused on workers aged 60 and older. There are three main reasons why the program was targeted to workers over the age of 60 for its final application period:

• Older workers tend to find it much more difficult to make the transition to jobs in other sectors, so tend to be in the greatest need.
• Because older applicants tend to receive smaller payments from the program, we can assist the largest possible number of applicants by giving priority to the oldest applicants.
• When older workers leave their jobs, the greatest opportunities are created for more junior workers.

Laid-off forest workers who were not eligible for the Transitional Assistance Program may want to look into the short-term job opportunities being created under the Community Development Trust’s Job Opportunities Program, or opportunities to enhance your training and job skills through the Tuition Assistance Program.

For more information about the Community Development Trust:

• 1-877-238-8882 from B.C. communities outside Victoria
• 250-387-5349 from Victoria
• email: cdt@gov.bc.ca