The Canada Job Grant was a critical discussion topic at Friday's premiers' meetings in Toronto.

Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski participated by phone, as the legislature is in session.

He could not be reached this morning for an interview.

Canada's provinces and territories have raised a series of concerns about the proposed Canada Job Grant. On Friday, they reaffirmed their commitment to ensure training programs threatened by the proposed program remain available to Canadians.

Provincial and territorial ministers responsible for labour markets met with their federal counterpart about their concerns on Nov. 8.

"The proposal by the federal government to redirect funds from proven skills development programs to the Canada Job Grant will not address the needs of unemployed Canadians who most need to improve their job prospects, particularly young people, persons with disabilities, aboriginal people, recent immigrants, social assistance recipients, the long-term unemployed and older works,” notes a release by the Council of the Federation.

In late September, Education Minister Elaine Taylor explained that the proposed job grant would drastically reduce funding available for territorial/federal and provincial/federal Labour Market Agreements.

Those agreements, set to expire in the spring 2014, aim to support vulnerable workers by providing them with the assistance they need to succeed in the workplace.

As proposed, the job grant would take 15 per cent of the LMA's funding in its first year, and up to 60 per cent of the funding by the third year, the minister noted.

By year three, the job grant would take $300 million of the $500 million per year allotted for the LMAs.

The remaining $200 million would be transfered to the provinces and territories to support the LMA work as it exists currently and administration costs.

The monies provided through the job grant portion of the LMA would also require cost-matching.

The employer applying for the funds and the territorial and federal governments would each be responsible for covering a third of the cost, up to $5,000 each.

There are other significant concerns as well.

As it stands, only direct training costs would be eligible under the proposed job grant, Taylor said.

Things like transportation costs, wage replacement, or child care wouldn't be covered.

Further to that, only training at accredited institutions will be eligible, meaning Yukoners may have to travel Outside, further exacerbating the costs to locals.

British Columbia's Premier Christy Clark and New Brunswick's Premier David Alward are leading efforts among the provinces and territories to develop an alternative approach to the job grant.

Other issues the premiers discussed Friday include the need for adequate and predictable transfers from the federal government.

The Council of the Federation release notes that the federal government is expecting a larger than anticipated surplus, close to $6.7 billion in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

"This federal projection comes at a time when premiers are witnessing an increasing pattern of federal decisions being made without adequate consultation, despite serious impacts on provincial and territorial policy and fiscal planning,” the release says.

The premiers agreed to update the fiscal imbalance study and directed their Finance ministers to examine ways to modernize financial transfer agreements.

Issues regarding retirement funds, infrastructure investment, foreign investment, international trade, and rail transportation of hazardous material were also discussed.