Alberta's NDP government confirmed Monday it won't move ahead with its controversial job creation grant program introduced in last fall's budget.

Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous confirmed the province is terminating the incentive program that had initially said would help create up to 27,000 new jobs over two years.

The program never got off the ground, but Bilous said the government has heard feedback that it wasn't going to achieve the job growth the province wanted.

"Quite frankly, businesses and industry provided us feedback to say, 'You know what, that isn't quite going to give you the outcomes that you're looking for,'" Bilous said Monday following a speech at TEC Edmonton, a business incubator in the city's downtown core.

Instead, the program will be replaced with "a suite of initiatives that are much more responsive to the current economy" Bilous said. He declined to reveal anything more but said the details will be included in Thursday's provincial budget.

The province had earmarked $178 million for the program over two years by giving businesses and non-profit organizations up to $5,000 for each new hire, up to $500,000 per qualifying employer.

It was set to begin this spring, but an application program never got off the ground this January and opposition critics and opponents of the program called on the government to replace it with something better.

Bilous wouldn't say how much the province is investing in job creation in the budget, but said "likely there will be even more money" than what the province had set aside for the incentive program.

"Our government has decided to do the right thing. We've pivoted away from a program and instead have pursued a number of initiatives based on a lot of feedback from business and industry and I think they're going to be very pleased with our budget on Thursday," Bilous said.

He did reveal the province will provide $10 million in new funding through Alberta Innovates to business incubators such as TEC Edmonton to help encourage entrepreneurship and job growth.

Last month Premier Rachel Notley signalled her government will introduce a small business tax cut in the upcoming budget.

mibrahim@postmedia.com

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