What Manitoba Employers Need to Know About BUMP, the Building Up Manitoba Program
Have you ever had a conversation about leadership training where everything made sense, the timing felt right and the need was clear, but the budget just wasn't there? It happens a lot. And when it does, good intentions get shelved, momentum stalls and the team waits another year.
If you're a Manitoba employer, that conversation just got a lot more interesting.
Manitoba leadership training funding is now available through a new provincial initiative called BUMP, the Building Up Manitoba Program. It reimburses eligible employers 50% of leadership training and custom curriculum design costs. If your organization qualifies, this changes the math on an investment you may have been putting off.
Here's what you need to know.
What Is Manitoba's BUMP Program and Why Does It Matter?
BUMP is a provincial workforce development fund designed to help small and medium-sized Manitoba employers build stronger leadership capacity. It's not a loan or an advance. It's a reimbursement program, which means your organization invests in training, the training is delivered and then you claim back 50% of the eligible costs.
For Manitoba employers who have been weighing the value of leadership development against budget realities, this is a meaningful shift. The program essentially halves the cost of an investment your team was already going to benefit from.
What makes BUMP particularly interesting is that it includes two distinct funding streams, and together they open up possibilities that most training grants haven't covered before.
Two Funding Streams, Two Opportunities
Stream 1: Employee Training
The first stream reimburses 50% of the cost of delivering leadership training for your team, up to $10,000 per employee per year. This covers workshops, cohort programs and group facilitation sessions. If you've been thinking about bringing your managers through a structured leadership program, this is the stream that supports that.
One important note: one-to-one executive coaching is generally not eligible under this stream. Group programs, workshops and facilitation sessions are. If you're wondering whether a specific Padraig program qualifies, that's exactly the kind of question we're happy to answer in a quick conversation.
Stream 2: HR Strategy and Curriculum Design
This is the stream that genuinely surprised us when we read the program details.
Stream 2 reimburses 50% of the cost of designing a custom leadership curriculum built specifically for your organization, up to $25,000. That includes hiring external support to create, enhance or customize training curriculum aligned to your organization's specific needs.
In other words, if you've ever wanted a leadership program designed around your values, your culture and your leadership priorities, rather than something off the shelf, BUMP can fund the design work. And if you then deliver that program to your team, Stream 1 can fund the delivery.
Combined, the total potential Manitoba leadership training funding across both streams is up to $100,000 per organization.
Who Qualifies for BUMP?
The Building Up Manitoba Program is available to a range of Manitoba employers. Eligible organizations include:
- For-profit businesses
- Non-profits
- Industry associations and sector councils
- Indigenous governments and health and education entities
- Municipal governments
- Unions
To qualify, your organization needs fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees, at least one year of operations and a permanent Manitoba establishment.
A few sectors are not eligible, and we want to be clear about this because a significant portion of Manitoba's workforce sits in these categories: provincial and federal government departments, Crown corporations, hospitals and health authorities, school divisions and public post-secondary institutions are all excluded from BUMP.
Pro tip: If you're not sure where your organization lands, the fastest way to find out is a short conversation. We're offering free 30-minute calls to help you figure it out.
What Padraig Programs Qualify for Manitoba Leadership Training Funding?
Padraig has been designing and delivering leadership programs for organizations across Canada since 2012. Our programs are a strong fit for BUMP's training stream.
The Network
The Network is our flagship cohort program for new and aspiring managers. It's a year-long, coach-led program delivered virtually, with four full-day leadership workshops, five group coaching sessions and a Certificate in Leadership Foundations upon completion. It's ready to launch for your organization without any design lead time, which makes it a natural fit for Stream 1.
Custom Leadership Programs
Custom programs are built around your organization's specific context and priorities. We've designed and delivered custom cohort programs for organizations across Canada, and we're proud to have won a competitive national RFP with Payworks to design and deliver their first multi-year leadership development program. A custom engagement can combine Stream 2 funding for the design phase with Stream 1 funding for the delivery.
Individual Workshops
Organizations can also choose from Padraig's range of standalone workshops, all of which qualify under Stream 1. These include Essential Conversations, Change Leadership, Resilient Leadership, Productive Conflict, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership and more. Mix and match the topics that fit your current priorities and we'll build a training plan around them.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Apply
BUMP runs on the provincial fiscal year, April 1 to March 31. Training must be completed within the same fiscal year as your application. The process involves submitting an intake form, a screening conversation with a provincial Workforce Development Consultant and then a formal application. There is lead time involved, so if your training is planned for this fiscal year, now is the right time to start.
It's also worth knowing that BUMP is a reimbursement model. Your organization pays for the training first and submits invoices, proof of payment and a completion report afterward to receive the reimbursement.
Pro tip: Padraig provides a completion summary at the end of every BUMP-funded engagement. You use that as the foundation of your reimbursement report to the province. We make that part easy.
How to Get Started
We're not grant consultants, but we've worked with Manitoba employers through workforce training funding before and we know how to make the process manageable.
When you work with Padraig on a BUMP-funded engagement, we provide a proposal that clearly separates Stream 1 and Stream 2 costs and we're happy to walk you through the intake process.
We've put together a one-pager with all the key details: both funding streams, eligibility criteria and application steps. Download it here. Or, if you'd rather just talk it through, book a free 30-minute call. We'll help you figure out whether BUMP is a fit for your organization and what the next steps look like. No pitch. Just a conversation.
What About Other Provinces?
Manitoba isn't alone in offering this kind of support. Several provinces have active programs that reimburse employers for leadership and workforce training costs. If you have colleagues or partner organizations in other parts of the country, it's worth passing this along.
In British Columbia, the B.C. Employer Training Grant covers up to 80% of eligible training costs, up to $10,000 per employee and $300,000 per employer annually. Leadership development programs are eligible.
In Alberta, the Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant reimburses up to 50% of training costs, up to $5,000 per employee and $100,000 per employer per fiscal year. Management and leadership training qualify.
In Quebec, the Mesure de formation de la main-d'oeuvre (MFOR) covers up to 75% of eligible costs, up to $100,000 per employer. Management training is explicitly listed as an eligible activity.
In Nova Scotia, the Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive (WIPSI) covers up to 75% of training costs. In New Brunswick, WorkingNB offers two relevant programs for employers: the Labour Force Training program, which funds training for existing employees, and Workplace Essential Skills (WES). Both are delivered through WorkingNB's retention supports page, where a workforce consultant can help you find the right fit.
