Our current projects range from examining labour market trends to exploring new ways of supporting people in employment— and in all cases, we’re working in partnership with employers and community organizations to lead this work.
Employer LINK is an IRCC*-funded project examining innovative ways of connecting employers, settlement and employment services, and newcomers. We have partnered with the YMCA Employment & Immigrant Services to explore how coaching around diverse, equitable, and inclusive recruitment and retention practices results in better employment outcomes for both employers and newcomers.
Our government has committed to welcoming up to 500,000 newcomers each year between now and 2025. As employers are challenged with an aging (retiring) workforce, this presents an opportunity. Within the opportunity, there is a need to better understand immigrant employment dynamics and how they impact the labour market in small to mid-sized communities like Niagara.
Our Immigrant Employment Council work is funded by IRCC* and MLITSD**.
As a local planning board, we’ve been sharing insights related to in-demand jobs and skillsets for decades. Through this MLITSD**-funded project, we’re working closely with community partners, like post-secondary education institutions and training providers, to explore new ways to innovate training to address workforce challenges and needs.
Through funding from MLITSD**, we’re enabled to collect and analyze labour market data throughout the year to understand workforce dynamics and trends in Niagara. Every December, we begin to produce a local labour market planning report to inform stakeholders in workforce development and their planning.
These reports also shape our team’s action plan year-to-year as we endeavor to work in partnership in Niagara (and beyond) to find solutions to problems within the labour market.
The Province of Ontario is prioritizing the growth and development of clean economy jobs and there is evidence to suggest that there is already investment in Ontario which will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs.
At the local level, Niagara Region Economic Development has already identified opportunities for new business in the green economy which will lead to substantial growth in clean economy jobs in our region.
This project is funded by the MLITSD**.
As of December, 2023, only 58.7% of individuals in Niagara aged 15 years and older are currently working, and retirees are exiting the workforce faster than people are entering.
Unprecedented labour shortages are negatively affecting business productivity and with the forecast for population and economic growth in Niagara within the next few years, these issues will become more challenging.
This project is funded by the MLITSD**.
*Our federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
**Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
We are collecting data to better understand who is looking for work and what kind of opportunities jobseekers are searching for. This data is completely anonymous and non-personally identifiable.
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