Who qualifies?

• The definition of recently unemployed worker includes the qualification "laid-off from their most recent employer."
• Applicants who are currently employed less than 20 hours per week are eligible.

As of November 10, 2008, the guidelines have been expanded to include:

• Workers laid off as far back as January 1, 2005
• Laid-off workers who have taken an interim job to make ends meet   
• Short term training options (less than six months) for laid-off workers who are not eligible for Employment Insurance  
• Potential additional financial assistance to cover expenses for the cost of academic upgrading, living away from home while participating in training, and dependent care.

Note:

• Your current part-time employer would not be considered your "most recent employer."
• There is no minimum amount of time a person has to have worked at their job prior to lay-off in order to consider them for Second Career. The intention of SCS is to support individuals who clearly have established a first career in the local labour market and need assistance in transitioning to a new career.
• If you have already submitted an OSD application for skills training intervention or it has been approved for OSD prior to June 1, 2008, cannot be considered for SCS.
• If you started a multi-year program without applying for SCS, start training and discover others are being funded, only in exceptional circumstances, may TCU provide support to an individual who started training on his/her own and is now seeking financial assistance to complete training. Financial assistance would not cover the training already completed, but would commence from the start date of TCU’s approved agreement with the individual. An example of exceptional circumstances would be where an individual began training and was being supported financially by his/her spouse. As a result of a marriage breakdown (separation, divorce or death) the individual no longer has the financial resources to complete training without assistance.
  
  

Who doesn’t qualify?

• The unemployed laid-off seasonal worker is not eligible for SCS.  When referring to SCS, this should not be used to provide skills training to seasonally employed workers to return to the same employer. Only in exceptional circumstances can skills training be used to transition these seasonal workers into permanent, non-seasonal, long-term careers.
• Self-employed people with no recent labour force attachment are not eligible for SCS. Only those individuals who meet the definition of a recently laid-off unemployed individual can be considered for support under SCS.
• Workers receiving salary continuance have not been laid off. In the case of salary continuance, instead of receiving lump sum severance pay, the worker would be given a notice of layoff from their employer and they continue to accumulate pension credits during the period of notice. They have not yet received a Record of Employment (ROE) and are still considered to be attached to their employer.