A new funding agreement for First Nations job training is in the works, according to Canada’s Employment Minister.

While speaking in Kamloops today, Patty Hajdu said the goal is to have a 10-year agreement in place before the fall election, which she says will give more money and more autonomy to First Nations.

“By agreeing to a 10-year agreement with the Government of Canada, the community will be able to do a better assessment of what people want to achieve, what kind of resources it will take to get them there, and they’ll be able to do their own labour market assessment. And of course with more money, means they’ll be able to do that in a much more comprehensive way.”

In the past 10 years, the nine bands that make up the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council have received $31.3 million for job training, which Hajdu says has benefited 7,800 Indigenous people.