The Canadian government has announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at providing training and development for aboriginal people working within the country's oil and gas sector.

Under the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP), the central government is to provide as much as $2.1 million for the training of hundreds of workers within the Nova Scotia region, with a particular emphasis to be placed upon resource-based sectors as well as the construction and transportation industries.

This latest move comes after the Canadian government invested $105 million in the ASEP programme in 2007 alone, with the training initiative having helped 16,000 people and created around 10,000 jobs in all sectors thus far.

Commenting on the initiative, Lynne Yelich, parliamentary secretary to Canada's minister of human resources and social development Monte Solberg, said: "The Government of Canada is taking steps to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible work force in the world.

"This project will offer Aboriginal people the skills they need to find and keep good quality jobs, help industry facing labour shortages and strengthen the local economy."

Oil & Gas Directory: Training & Development