"In the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, building a well-educated, highly skilled workforce is crucial to our future prosperity," the Premier said. (October 14, 2005 news release, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities)

All levels of government are interested in coordinating local labour market planning, fostering local partnership development, and last but not least, getting employers involved in community events/activities.

The majority of partnership projects provide benefits – directly and/or indirectly to all stakeholders in a community. For example, if a partnership targeted at helping persons with disabilities results in increased employment – that benefits employers as well.

Partnerships are recorded in the Partnership Database housed on the Local Boards Network site. www.localboards.on.ca
 

Local Boards of Ontario

Western Local Board Areas

Local Boards continue to collaborate and share ideas, strategies and strive to maximize resources. Our projects and partnerships are great examples of our local capacity to bring people together to identify, plan, and implement results-based labour market solutions. The publication linked below highlights activities of the eight Local Board areas in the western region including Niagara, Hamilton, Grand Erie, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Sarnia-Lambton, Grey Bruce and Windsor-Essex-Kent.
Partnership Activities 2010-2011


NWPB Projects & Activities: 2010-11

Projects and Activities

For a downloadable flier of 2010-11 Projects and Activities, please click here.


Niagara Labour Market Planning Committee (NLMPC)

This dynamic committee was formed in 2008 with a mandate to drive the development of an integrated local labour market plan for Niagara. The committee’s membership reflects broad-based community leadership from the business sector, community organizations, school boards, post-secondary institutions and the public sector. The NLMPC met on May 18, 2010 and will continue to meet semi-annually, with the next meeting scheduled for November 15, 2010. Committee work is focused on implementation, evaluation and community report back related to the Niagara Labour Market Plan, 2009-2013…A Vision in Action.

Shared Co-op and Workplace Employer Outreach

NWPB is bringing together representatives from local education institutions (French and English, secondary and post-secondary) that utilize co-op and intern placements to facilitate dialogue and discussion on the creation of a shared co-op and workplace employer outreach strategy. Topics covered will include current strategies and initiatives, what’s working well, what's not working and documentation of best practices. A stakeholder’s forum is being planned for Fall 2010. Opportunities for collaboration and development of a Niagara strategy to support increased employer engagement in co-op/internship will be explored.
 
Green Jobs in Niagara, Grand Erie & Hamilton Niagara Economic Region

NWPB and sister boards in Hamilton and Grand Erie (Brantford and area) will increase understanding, knowledge, and regional capacity to respond to occupational needs of the "green economy" through an examination of the influence from a local economic and occupational perspective. "Green Occupations" in the economic region of Grand Erie, Hamilton and Niagara will be researched, profiled and documented with a focus on sectors that are prevalent within each local board geographic area. Sector specific occupations by NAICS code will be profiled, including local labour market information.
 
Local Boards Occupational Profile

Development of a common template for occupational profiles development across local board areas will be explored, including creation of a comprehensive inventory of existing profiles and information collected.

SME — Available Supports & Documented Gaps — Phase II

Research to compare documented labour market development needs of SMEs to existing supports will be completed; support and service gaps will be identified and documented.

Profiling Niagara's Dynamics, Diversity and Density

In partnership with the Niagara Community Observatory (Brock) a series of information briefs showcasing research findings on Niagara’s dynamics, diversity and density (based on a 2010 study that examines Niagara’s profile from a human capital development model perspective) will be published. The first brief will be released at the NWPB AGM on September 21, 2010.

Feasibility Study for Local Labour Market Information

NWPB will investigate the feasibility of developing a sustainable, integrated local labour market information system that enables job seekers, employers, educators, and economic development and support serving organizations to access, understand and utilize current LMI to make informed decisions.

Take Care of Your Future (Career Awareness and Resource Exploration)

This March Break Camp provides 24 Niagara high school students with hands-on experience using a variety of medical equipment, simulation activities and job shadowing opportunities. Students explore various aspects of careers and have direct contact with over 40 professionals working in the health care sector.

CareersNiagara.com

Region of Niagara, Community Services has partnered with NWPB to create a career web portal that will promote executive management level jobs in Niagara. The site is set to launch in Fall 2010.

Youth Strategy Coordinator

NWPB will work with local municipalities and youth serving agencies to develop, implement and evaluate a region wide youth strategy to promote youth engagement and retention. A regional Youth Strategy Coordinator position will be created and tasked with strategy coordination.
 
Niagara Immigrant Connections Initiative (NICI)

In its pilot year, NICI will coordinate both a mentorship and connections program. The mentorship program establishes a relationship between an internationally trained immigrant and a more experienced individual in face-to-face meetings where a relationship is cultivated over a 3-4 month period. The mentorship program will use a mentor/mentee tracking system that will support Niagara Immigrant Serving Agencies in the linkage of clients to employers. The connector program puts newcomers directly in touch with business owners and operators, managers, civil servants and community leaders. Through connections with local employers, immigrants will build a social network that will assist in identifying and seizing opportunities to join our workforce and settle successfully in our community. One of NICI’s mandates is to provide mentorship opportunities to immigrants in businesses and organizations that exist in the "green" and "biotechnology" industries. The definition of what constitutes a "green" industry and occupation will be researched and documented, enabling the mentorship program to correctly identify suitable "green economy" mentees for the mentorship program.

Local Immigrant Partnership Strategy (LIPS)

NWPB is working in partnership with the Region of Niagara for implementation and integration of resources to support immigrants.

Executive Director Networking Breakfast

NWPB hosted a meeting on June 4, 2010 of executive leaders from Niagara’s employment support and service providing organizations. The meeting included presentations on activities and initiatives related to the Niagara Labour Market Plan 2009-2013 and other NWPB projects and initiatives, the Paths to Prosperity plan and an update on changes to the Employment Ontario service delivery structure in Niagara. The meeting also provided the opportunity for participating agencies and organizations to network and share current activities. The ED Breakfast meetings were an annual event for the past several years, but have now moved to a biannual meeting structure due to participant feedback requesting more frequent meetings of this group.

Apprenticeship: It Works!

NWPB in partnership with the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum- Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF-FCA) and the Apprenticeship Strategy Group of Niagara is hosting a half day event for employers in Niagara on October 6, 2010. In order to build a highly skilled and productive workforce, this event will provide the opportunity for employers to network and gather tools and information on recruiting and retaining apprentices. Organizations speaking at this event will include: CAF-FCA, Canadian Revenue Agency, Niagara College, and Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities. Information presented will include: Employer Tool Kit, reasons to hire an apprentice, on-line catalogue and employer forum, the importance of essential skills, and the results on return on training investment (ROTI) research. 

Local Boards of Ontario Occupational Framework

Local Boards have formed a project committee to facilitate and inform the development of an on-line NOC-based standardized Occupational Profiles framework that will be populated with both static common fields and customized fields that are adapted (i.e. populated with local statistic or informational data) for the Local Board area being accessed. As background: In 2009 Niagara Workforce Planning Board launched "Niagara Occupational Profiles" (NOP), an easy-to-use on-line resource tool designed to assist career counsellors and job-seekers make informed career, education and training decisions. The NOP currently consists of 42 occupations that were identified through a related examination of Niagara’s high-growth and declining industries. Occupations related to these industries were examined for common skills and competencies; data from Canadian Business Patterns, Ontario Multipliers and 2006 Census Data was used in the validation process. The NOP may be used either as a template or to provide a starting point from which to build a Local Boards Occupational Profiles product that will benefit all Board areas and their clients.

Other Projects

Partnership Activities - Western Local Board Areas - 2009-10

Recently Completed Projects (2009-2010)

Inventory for Local Labour Market Information

Identify local sources of LMI information and document what information is available, how it is used, tracked, and shared. This project will support future activities related to feasibility, sustainability, and framework design for an integrated local labour market information system that enables job seekers, employers, educators, economic development, and support serving organizations to access, understand and utilize current labour market information to make informed decisions. An event is scheduled for March 3, 2010 at which the findings of the research and survey will be shared and a facilitated discussion on next steps will be held. This project is delivered in partnership with Hamilton and Brantford Local Training Boards.

Labour Market 101

The creation of a clear language labour market information resource guide will provide relevant labour market information to assist in the career decision-making process. Resource will target students, parents, and educators at the secondary and post-secondary level.

Take CARE of Your Future (Career Awareness and Resource Exploration)

In its 3rd year running, this week long program is designed for 24 selected Niagara students in grades 11 and 12 to explore the vast opportunities in the health care sector. Students will have hands-on experience using a variety of medical equipment and simulation activities and job shadowing opportunities. Students will explore various aspects of careers in the health sector and will have direct contact with over 40 professionals spanning across 30+ careers. This initiative is being led by Niagara Health System in partnership with Niagara Workforce Planning Board, Business Education Council of Niagara, District School Board of Niagara and Niagara Catholic District School Board.

Building a Skills Matching System Across Sectors

The key purpose of this research is to examine skills and competencies across growing occupations and declining occupations to better inform potential labour supply movement. Occupational profiles are linked to essential skills. Profiles are available through an interactive web-based database that will be searchable and printable. Product launched at the Executive Directors Breakfast on Friday, December 11, 2009. Log onto our website (www.niagaraworkforceboard.ca) and click on the computer monitor "Niagara’s Occupational Profiles". Release of supporting report is scheduled for March 2010. 

Careers in Niagara... Region of Opportunity

Design and implement a proactive retention strategy that links post-secondary graduating students with employers from key economic sectors across Niagara. This afternoon event taking place on Thursday, February 18, 2010 is designed to provide post-secondary graduating students with information on the numerous occupations available in the Niagara Region. A pro-active graduate retention strategy will be created that links graduating students to business that includes dominant sectors and emerging sectors across the region. 

Workshops for Career Practitioners in Niagara

In January, 2010 Sandra Summerhayes & Associates completed delivery of this 6 module workshop for employment services career practitioners in Niagara.  Each participant received 21 hours of hands on training, a Facilitator Guide, Power Point on CD, Career Assessment Overviews on CD and a certificate of completion.