Conservative Party Leader Pierre Pulievre speaks at a news conference in Saguenay, Quebec, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Jacques Boissineau, News of Canada)

OTTAWA — Conservative Party Leader Pierre Pulievre announced a plan Friday to expand training and employment in trades and professions.

The plan, dubbed “more boots, fewer suits,” will expand technical schools, provide direct subsidies to apprentices and provide faster access to unemployment insurance for apprentices in licensed trades, he said at a news conference in Ottawa Friday morning.

Pulievre said the goal of the plan is to boost workers’ incomes and reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States.

Under the plan, the federal government will provide up to $4,000 in apprenticeship grants, fund upskilling schools for up to 350,000 people over five years and work with provinces to standardise occupational health and safety regulations so that skilled workers can work across Canada.

“People who build houses can’t afford to buy those houses,” he told a gathering of local construction union members.

The choice in the upcoming election is clear.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to announce the election on Sunday, and the election could be held as soon as April 28.

Pulievre spent much of his press conference comparing himself to Mark Carney, claiming that the prime minister doesn’t have the ability to take on US President Donald Trump, but he does.

He said:
“That’s why common-sense Conservatives will always stand with employers and unions across the country to deliver on the great promise of Canada.
Canada First.”

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