New Programs and Initiatives

By François Demers

Access for Success

As we approach the millennium, technology and the Internet have become essential tools for many job seekers. With increasing traffic on the Internet, more and more social service agencies see the benefits of having a presence on the Web. But for many smaller agencies they’re simply not able to make the technical or financial commitment necessary to participate in this new electronic environment.

HRDC recognized this divide and last October launched, Access for Success (A4S), a project that assists Toronto based non-profit organizations in utilizing technology and the Internet to better serve their clients. A4S provides free services including Web sites (using a Web site template), online conferencing and Web site hosting.

Developing an online community of service agencies is also an A4S goal. The main A4S Web site includes a comprehensive directory of employment, training and labour related Web sites in the GTA. A4S also publishes and distributes a twice-monthly newsletter, called Success Stories, via e-mail. Organizations are invited to contribute relevant pieces, including information about upcoming events, workshops and initiatives.

A4S is sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and managed by SMART Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area’s leading hi-tech business association.

Completion of the Careers in Culture project

The Careers in Culture set of booklets, produced by the Cultural Human Resources Council, will provide a springboard for thousands of young people looking to make the leap from school to work in the cultural sector.

What cultural career is best suited to you? What steps must you take to achieve it? These 8″ x 11″ booklets describe over a hundred careers and current tendencies within each area of the cultural sector. They contain questionnaires, first-hand accounts, practical examples (offers of service, resumes, etc.) and resource indexes. This series is absolutely essential, not only for young people who want to pursue a career in culture, but also for teachers, councilors and parents seeking to help them.

Through the work of sub-sectoral artists’ committees, a team of researchers, writers, graphic artists, etc., four booklets have already been completed and all of the others will be ready next December, right on schedule. This CHRC initiative began two years ago as a career awareness project which ultimately led to the production of six booklets presented last September at CHRC’s Forum 98. The booklets received rave reviews and the goal set a year ago for pre-sales will soon be reached.

Thanks to extensive Canada-wide collaboration, we were able to produce booklets that reflect the reality of today’s cultural occupations in our country. In addition, Les Éditions Ma Carrière, a well-known Québec publishing house, has worked closely with us to ensure that the French-language version of the series is properly adapted to the country’s Francophone reality. CHRC is also taking steps to establish partnerships to promote and distribute the booklets throughout Canada.

The six booklets provide an overview of the major aspects of the cultural environment, literary creation and publishing, visual arts and fine crafts, heritage, new media, music and sound recording, film, television, radio and the performing arts. For each of these sub-sectors, CHRC has called upon professionals to provide advice to young people embarking on a career. The response was enthusiastic, to say the least.

More than 100 people readily agreed to contribute, including:

• Pierre Berton, Writer
• Carol Shields, Writer
• Peter Newman, Author/Journalist
• Neil Collie, Vice President, Cogimax Technologies Inc.
• Robin King, Director, School of Animation, Arts and Desing, Sheridan College
• Jeff Downton, Production Manager, FirstWeb Communications
• Tyley Ross, Actor
• Michael Leclair, Tent Master, Le Cirque du Soleil
• Ron French, Film / Television Producer (the X-Files)
• John Kim Bell, Founder/President, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
• Margaret Archibald, Executive Director, Heritage Tourism Secretariat, The Department of Canadian Heritage
• Sharilyn Ingram, Director, Royal Botanical Gardens
• Ashley MacIsaac, Musician
• Ross Porter, Host, CBC Radio Two
• Michael Conway Baker, Composer
• Guy Badeaux, Cartoonist
• Dr. Shirley Thompson, Director, Canada Council for the Arts
• Peter Paterson, Photographer

CHRC would like to warmly thank all of these people as well as everyone who contributed to the series.

For more information on Careers in Culture, contact CHRC at (613) 562-1535, or visit our Web site at www.culturalhrc.ca.

François Demers
CHRC Communications Coordinator