The provincial government has established partnerships among government, employers, unions, sector councils, employees, students and public and private education and training institutions to achieve desired educational, economic and social results. The benefits of this approach are: enhancing the relevance and quality of education; maximizing available resources; and creating smoother transitions between school, college, university, training school and employment.

a) New Industry Training Partnerships (ITP) Branch

This branch provides integrated access and services to industry groups addressing human resource issues that affect their competitiveness and growth. Through ITP, strategic sector partnerships have been established in priority sectors: aerospace, health care products, information technology, manufacturing, tourism, garment, food processing/agribusiness, trucking, agriculture (pork production), customer contact, film and francophone film, arts and cultural industries, and environmental management. These sector-specific training initiatives are contributing to growth and innovation:

• Manitoba Aerospace Human Resources Co-ordinating Committee (MAHRCC)
  
  
• Manitoba Information Technology Industries Inc. (MITI)
  
  
• Film Training Manitoba (FTM)
  
  
• The Biotechnology Training Strategy.

b) Apprenticeship Revitalization

The Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act (1999) set the stage for an apprenticeship system that responds more effectively to the skills that industry requires. In this system, Provincial Trade Advisory Committees (report to the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Board), represent employers and employees in determining training requirements and skills for each trade.