From the Atlantic Region

YOUTHFORCE 2007

By Jennifer MacPhee

From March 12 to March 15, 2007, Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) will host YOUTHFORCE 2007 in partnership with the NS Department of Education and the Nova Scotia Community College. Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) has been successfully hosting this student outreach program for the past several years. 2007 promises to yield even greater success with a renewed commitment from our stakeholders to increase the number of student participants to 150, which is more than double the size of the program from last year.

The goal of the program is to introduce grades 11 and 12 students to the Department of National Defence work environment and to the future employment options we offer, particularly in the area of trades and technology occupations. There is a focus on attracting students from the four designated groups (Women, Visible Minorities, Persons with Disabilities and Aboriginals) who will compose 75 percent of participants.

Students will have the opportunity over the four days to tour various units within MARLANT, to view the work that is done by our civilian workforce, in support of, and alongside their military counterparts. Tours will feature a wide variety of employment options in the trades and technology sector. This will be a hands-on learning experience (where feasible) with the opportunity to interact directly with individuals currently employed in these fields. Each group of students will be assigned a mentor who is currently employed with MARLANT to guide them on the tours and informally discuss aspects of their occupations.

The program is part of MARLANT’s greater workforce renewal strategy in response to civilian retirement forecasts within the organization. It is forecasted that 59% (1178) of the civilian workforce will retire by 2014. Over 70 % of current civilian personnel are over the age of 45.

This is an exciting program, as it really broadens the understanding of how trades can be applied to the workforce for students and also enlightens them as to many options they may not have considered.

If you have any questions about YOUTHFORCE 2007, please contact Jennifer MacPhee at (902) 427-1539 or by email MacPhee.JC@forces.gc.ca.

 

Jennifer MacPhee is a civilian employee with the Department of National Defence, who is currently working on assignment for three months, to coordinate the YouthForce 2007 project at MARLANT.

From Quebec

Self-Employment and Employment for Quebec’s English Speaking Cultural Communities and Visible Minorities

New Research Study by YES Montreal (Youth Employment Services)

By Alexandra Percy

It is no surprise that certain barriers exist for English-speaking communities and visible minorities in Quebec when seeking self-employment and employment. To better understand what these issues and concerns are and how they can be addressed, YES Montreal in collaboration with Jack Jedwab, recently published an extensive research report. Sources included 2001 Statistics Canada Census data on trends in employment and self-employment, a 2005 survey of 3000 Quebec Anglophones conducted by CROP for the Community Health and Social Services Network, the Jedweb-YES Survey examining entrepreneurs and job-seekers, and a commissioned poll by Leger Marketing to understand barriers to starting a business.

The importance of networks in gaining meaningful employment or in setting up a small business was a crucial finding of the report. Additional obstacles also highlighted in the document included financial support for businesses, discrimination, language, education, and recognition of credentials and experience.

One key recommendation made by Jedwab is to create and enhance networking opportunities in communities where such networks are inadequate; in doing so this will create visible role-models and foster mentorship opportunities. Other recommendations include affordable and accessible language training, and better dissemination of information to English-speaking members of visible minorities on access to capital, entrepreneurship training programs, and other resources.

The report is titled, “Self-Employment and Employment in Quebec’s English-speaking Cultural Communities and Visible Minorities: Prospects and Problems”, and a copy is available at www.yesmontreal.ca.

As a not-for-profit organization, YES Montreal enriches the community by providing English-language support services to help Quebecers find employment and start businesses.

 

Alexandra Percy works at YES Montreal (Youth Employment Services) where she is currently assisting in planning an Entrepreneurship Conference.  Originally from Vancouver, BC, she has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree from the University of Toronto. 

From Ontario

Participate in the 2007 Employment Law Conference in Toronto

For those who insist on the best and want to hear it from the experts, NAPP Canada, a Career Management and Consulting Firm, and its partners have put together a compelling conference to demystify the legalese on employment law and provide you with some straight talk about the workplace. The best kept secret about administering employment law is to know where success starts. Delve into success by attending the Employment Law Conference 2007 for the workplace which takes a giant step to cover the Employment Standards Act and Termination and Dismissal law.

In collaboration with several partners including; Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP-Management Labour Lawyers, and the following Government programs; ACCES, Career Foundation, PCPI, VPI, and YMCA, NAPP Canada is scrupulously organizing an Employment Law Conference for the workplace to be held in the Spring of 2007. The conference will take place on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 from 8am to 12 Noon, at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre located in Toronto-Don Valley.

We invite companies to break away from the pack, from frustrations and harness your workplace productivity while being guided by employment law.

From the conference, you will:

• Develop a solid grasp of employment and HR practices and procedures.  You will learn to identify potential legal problems that can arise in the workplace and ways to decide on the appropriate ways to address them
• Get an depth look at the statute Employment Standards Act and Termination and Dismissal Law
• Receive detailed and thorough coverage on the main legal issues that can arise in the hiring and firing process, and the pitfalls to be avoided
• Explore the form and content of employment contract and explanation of advantages and disadvantages of different approaches
• Receive guidance and information regarding the complexities of wrongful dismissal and provides clear strategies to reduce risk
• Understand and deal with the many of legal issues managers and companies face and how to recognize at an early stage when expert advice is needed
• Engage in network opportunities with 200 other companies present; we ran a very successful event to encourage business in Toronto by exchanging 10,000 business cards before, now we are inviting attendees to promote yourself, products and services to others

Become thoroughly versatile in this field by interacting first-hand with our strong pool of experts who are experienced practicing lawyers and authors of employment law. With over 200 attendees, the conference is invaluable and a must-attend for executives, presidents, directors, controllers, business owners, Career Counselors, consultants, managers, supervisors, decision makers, government services, business and HR professionals.

If you have any questions, would like to participate or would like more information, please contact Rita Persaud at 647-203-8759.

NAPP Canada is Management Consulting Firm focusing on business strategies, employment issues and events.  

 

Rita Persaud, Director, NAPP Canada is an expert business professional whose energies and networking talents have created synergies that have impacted businesses in a positive way, allowing them to grow and remain viable in the City of Toronto. Rita has many years of experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors and has operated both locally and in international markets. Rita is a graduate of York University with several degrees in Business, Economics and Human Resources.  Rita’s recent media appearance on employment matters includes: City TV, CTTV, Ad News & Scarborough Mirror. Please contact Rita Persaud at tel: 647-203-8759 or email rpersaud@nappcanada.com if you have any questions.

From British Columbia

Career Counselling Online – An Emerging Practice

by Tannis Goddard

Career e-Volutions, an innovative online career development program in British Columbia is in its 3^rd year of delivery. This highly successful program uses an interactive web-based platform to deliver career exploration and job search skills to groups of individuals. Participants interact regularly with their e-Facilitator for personalized coaching and encouragement. Initially piloted as a strategy to reach clients residing in more rural areas of Greater Vancouver, Career e-Volutions continues to grow in popularity and scope. Currently, 220 clients access the program each year from across the Vancouver area. Over 75% of the participants reside in urban locales where face-to-face programming is easily accessible.

Clients access the program by logging into an e-learning platform on a secure server, and complete the program on their own time schedule. Allowing clients to balance home, part-time work, and personal commitments has been identified as a significant program benefit. Clients also highly value the individualized support they receive in the program from their e-Facilitator. The e-Facilitator sees all the activities each client has completed and through a private online counselling space, engages in focused dialogue with individuals about their progress, personal reflections, and the understanding and insights the client is developing.

Last year, 83% of participants who completed Career e-Volutions found meaningful employment or started a skills training program within three months of completion. Feedback from participants has been extremely positive.

“I felt the content and focus more than met my expectations…I really appreciated the chance to do this program online because it allowed me to do it on my own schedule, fitting it in amidst the rest of my life responsibilities and activities.”

Training Innovations has been studying and developing online learning methods for 10 years. Their expertise in blending the right skills and approaches for designing and delivering online career counselling services has been noted by requests to speak at conferences in Australia and the United States. Training Innovations will be starting a Service Alliance Program to partner with other agencies to make their technology and career programs available for use across Canada. If your organization is interested in learning more, please contact Tannis Goddard at tannis.goddard@training-innovations.com.

View a demo of Career e-Volutions at www.innovationtraining.org/

 

Tannis Goddard is the Founder of Training Innovations, located in Burnaby, British Columbia. Training Innovations specializes in designing and delivering a full spectrum of career management and professional development services.