Employment allocates €58.5 million to training for unemployed people in the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands Government’s Department of Tourism and Employment, through the Canary Islands Employment Service (SCE), has opened its 2026 call for grants to fund training courses aimed primarily at unemployed workers. The call has a budget of €58.5 million.

Its main aim is to improve the skills and professional qualifications of unemployed people in the Canary Islands, help them access the labour market and tailor training provision to the current needs of businesses and the archipelago’s various productive sectors.

Of the total budget, €40 million is allocated to vocational training courses primarily aimed at obtaining full professional certificates (Level C), while the remaining €18.5 million will fund courses listed in the National Employment System’s Catalogue of Training Specialities.

Jéssica de León, the Canary Islands Government’s Minister for Tourism and Employment, said: “It is essential to focus the department’s active employment policies on improving the employment prospects of those who are most vulnerable or face the greatest difficulties in accessing the labour market, ensuring that the islands’ growth creates real and inclusive opportunities for everyone.”

“Through this significant investment in vocational training for employment, we are pursuing a 360-degree strategy that enables us to provide technical skills to those who need them most. One of this department’s priorities is, in fact, to design effective public policies that improve the working and social conditions of vulnerable groups, opening the door to stable, high-quality jobs,” the minister said.

The allocation of funding among the islands takes particular account of the labour market situation in each territory. Ninety per cent of the funding is distributed according to the number of registered unemployed people on each island, while the remaining 10% is weighted according to its activity rate.

Funding will also be allocated by vocational field. María Teresa Ortega, director of the Canary Islands Employment Service, said: “To ensure the viability and transparent management of public funds, the call sets specific funding rates for each vocational field to determine the financing for each course, taking account of changes in costs and the CPI in the Canary Islands.”

Classroom and online training to balance provision across the islands

The programme includes both in-person and asynchronous online training, or distance learning, expanding access to training and supporting provision suited to the different circumstances across the Canary Islands.

Of the €40 million allocated to professional certificates, up to €4 million may fund asynchronous online courses, while €36 million will go to in-person training.

Of the €18.5 million allocated to training specialities, up to €1.85 million may go to distance learning, with the remaining €16.65 million allocated to in-person training.

Training tailored to labour market needs

The call forms part of the SCE’s training programme for 2025–2027 and updates its courses to reflect changes to the Vocational Training System, as well as new skills needs across the productive sector.

Areas receiving particular support include specialities linked to the green transition, the blue economy, languages, basic and advanced digital skills, the audiovisual sector, and the Information Technology and Communications vocational field.

Through this programme, the SCE aims not only to improve participants’ chances of finding work, but also to support the transition to new production models, strengthen business competitiveness and respond to technological changes in the Canary Islands labour market.

Courses will be aimed primarily at people registered as jobseekers with SCE offices. At least 70% of participants in each course must be unemployed, with employed people eligible to take any remaining places, up to a general maximum of 30%.

Courses may have up to 15 participants in person and 25 in asynchronous online training or distance learning.

Accredited or registered public and private training providers wishing to apply have until 16 September to submit their applications. Applications must be processed through SISPECAN’s Training Application Assistant and the Canary Islands Autonomous Community’s electronic office.

Training courses may begin once the grant award decision has been notified and must be completed before 30 December 2027.