Orders are down: can Work-Sharing help you retain and retrain your production team?

Fewer orders create two problems for a manufacturer: paying for temporarily unused production capacity and keeping the skills needed when demand returns. Work-Sharing can support a temporary reduction in hours while employees remain connected to the business. To decide whether it fits, start with production requirements, cash flow and the effects on employees.

The program provides Employment Insurance benefits to eligible employees through an agreement involving the employer, employees and Service Canada. The reduction in business activity must be temporary and beyond the employer’s control. It is not a general reimbursement of your payroll. Source: Work-Sharing overview.

The following approach helps you assess the option and include training in a recovery plan. Program information was checked on October 2, 2026. All example figures are hypothetical Canadian-dollar amounts.

Start with available work and the skills you need to keep

Before changing a schedule, ask operations to reconcile the order book with the hours needed to deliver it. A 20% revenue decline does not necessarily mean 20% fewer working hours. Product mix, changeovers and delivery requirements can alter the relationship.

Answer three questions:

• What work is confirmed? Separate firm orders, announced delays and sales you still hope to win.

• Which skills will determine your ability to restart? Identify roles whose loss would slow recovery, such as machine setup, inspection, maintenance or line coordination.

• What supports the view that the slowdown is temporary? Document customer changes and specific recovery measures.

The general eligibility criteria examine the reduction in available work; lower revenue alone is insufficient. Special measures may change some conditions. Source: Work-Sharing eligibility.

This assessment supports an operating decision. It complements our Work-Sharing program guide, which covers eligibility and the application process.

Example: what does retaining a team on reduced hours cost?

Consider a unit of 20 employees normally paid $35 an hour for 40 hours a week. Available work would temporarily support a 32-hour schedule for each person. This illustrative 20% reduction would still need to fit an approved agreement; it does not establish eligibility.

• Hours worked across the unit — Normal schedule: 800 hours; 32-hour scenario: 640 hours

• Gross wages for hours worked — Normal schedule: $28,000; 32-hour scenario: $22,400

• Difference in gross wages — Normal schedule: —; 32-hour scenario: $5,600

• Additional training budget, internal assumption — Normal schedule: —; 32-hour scenario: $1,200

• Difference after that training, before other costs — Normal schedule: —; 32-hour scenario: $4,400

The $4,400 is only the difference between two items in this illustrative budget. It is neither a grant nor a guaranteed net saving. Add employer payroll costs, maintained benefits, administration, fixed expenses and any employee income top-ups you will pay.

Check that 640 hours can still cover planned deliveries. A cheaper schedule that creates substantial delays could worsen the commercial situation. The way hours are shared and the composition of the unit must comply with the approved agreement.

Keep employer cash and employee income in separate budgets

The employer budget should show what the business pays and when approved support arrives. The employee budget should distinguish wages, benefits and any top-up.

• Wages for hours worked — Treatment in your assessment: Employer cash outflow and employee income

• Work-Sharing EI benefits — Treatment in your assessment: Conditional employee income; do not count it as cash received by the business

• Top-up funded through an approved grant — Treatment in your assessment: Track payments to employees and the corresponding funding separately

• Training fees, software and coordination time — Treatment in your assessment: Budget these costs without assuming reimbursement

In the example, gross wages for hours worked fall from $1,400 to $1,120 per employee per week. Those two amounts cannot establish total employee income. That depends on benefits the individual is entitled to receive and any applicable top-up. Use official information and tools before communicating an individual estimate.

The Worker Retention Grant (WRG) enables employers with an approved and implemented Work-Sharing agreement to provide additional income support to eligible employees in connection with training. It does not automatically replace the fees charged by your training provider. Source: Worker Retention Grant.

Choose training that supports recovery

Training should meet a team need. A manufacturer might consider drawing interpretation, preparation for a new digital tool or an additional quality-control skill. The final choice depends on your needs and the applicable project conditions.

Under the WRG, training opportunities must be offered during at least 40% of the weeks covered by the grant agreement, with access for all eligible employees in the relevant unit. This does not mean 40% of each week’s hours. Source: managing a WRG agreement.

For a hypothetical 20-week WRG agreement, that means offering training opportunities during at least eight weeks. Define an observable result: completing a supervised setup, using a tool or passing a quality-control exercise. These are suggested management criteria, not official funding thresholds.

An employer applies for the WRG after its Work-Sharing agreement has been implemented. Training can take place during non-working hours. Confirm the plan and its conditions before making commitments. Source: WRG eligibility.

Plan for the timing of cash outflows and funding

The WRG management guide describes payments of 50% of approved funding at the start of the agreement, 40% after the validation report is accepted and 10% after the final attestation report is accepted. Later payments therefore depend on conditions being met. Source: WRG payment model.

Place wages, top-ups and training expenses in your weekly forecast on their expected payment dates. Add confirmed funding payments separately and test a delay in receipt. An approved amount and cash available on a Friday payroll date are different things.

For a broader view of funding sources and their role, see our small-business funding guide for Canada.

Check current measures before choosing a duration

As checked on October 2, 2026, tariff special measures are scheduled to remain in effect until March 31, 2028. An agreement approved under these measures may be extended to a maximum of 152 weeks, if needed. That ceiling is neither an automatically approved term nor a guaranteed WRG duration. Source: Work-Sharing special measures.

The proposed Workforce Retention and Retraining Program (WRRP) is still labelled “coming soon.” Do not include its announced funding in your budget as available, approved assistance. Source: announced program status.

Service Canada asks employers to submit their Work-Sharing application at least ten business days before the requested start date, which must be a Sunday. That submission requirement is not a promise of approval. Source: preparing a Work-Sharing application.

Make the decision with explicit review points

Bring finance and operations a central scenario and a slower-recovery scenario. Compare required hours, weekly payments and available skills under each.

Set internal review points for the order book, cash buffer, deliveries and training progress. If recovery materializes, prepare to restore hours according to the agreement. If the outlook deteriorates, reassess the plan with your advisers and Service Canada instead of extending assumptions without evidence.

Next step: gather your order book, cash-flow forecast and an initial training plan. That gives you a concrete capacity-retention proposal to discuss before checking which supports your business and employees may qualify for.