2020

Spring-Summer Issue of Careering focuses on rural workforce development

June 10, 2020By

As part of the third collaborative edition between CERIC and the National Career Development Association (NCDA), the Spring-Summer 2020 issue of Careering magazine highlights “Rural Workforce Development.”

You will find articles from both sides of the border exploring creative solutions to labour shortages, the challenges of unequal broadband access, how to ensure the viability of the agriculture industry, trends in rural workforce development and much more. Several articles also analyze the impacts of COVID-19.

Articles in this issue:

…and much more, including:

Careering is Canada’s Magazine for Career Development Professionals and is the official publication of CERIC. It is published three times a year both in print and as an emagazine, including select content in French. Subscribe to receive your free copy. You can also access past issues for free online.

The Fall 2020 issue of Careering will be on the theme of “Career Superpowers.” Please send a brief description of your idea to Editor Lindsay Purchase, lindsay@ceric.ca, no later than June 30. Article deadlines will be set for this summer in conjunction with writers.

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2020

CERIC announces award of project to examine foundational skills in grades 4-6

June 10, 2020By

CERIC’s Career Development in Children: Identifying Critical Success Conditions and Strategies project has been awarded to an international team of academic researchers led by Dr Lorraine Godden, Ironwood Consulting and Carleton University; Nicki Moore, University of Derby, and Dr Heather Nesbitt and Dr Stefan Merchant, Queen’s University. This project will examine how foundational concepts and skills that are introduced and developed by classroom teachers connect to career-related learning in Canadian elementary schools.

The project stems from a Request for Proposals that CERIC released last fall to identify the foundational elements that students in grades 4-6 need to thrive in all phases of life and career planning. It is clear that introducing career concepts within the early years, whether formally through designed programs or informally through play-based learning, can have a long lasting and impactful presence. But in the absence of the formal infusion of career into curricula, what options are available within the education structure to ensure that children can sustainably develop the tools they will need to navigate a world of work we cannot yet imagine?

The starting point for the research is that teachers are the linchpin, engaging with students at every age and stage. Teachers guide various learning and play activities that foster foundational skills (eg, healthy habits, social and emotional skills, self-confidence, empathy, team work, critical thinking, self-awareness, emotional regulation) but these are not usually undertaken from a career development perspective. Yet, in later grades, both teacher and student are expected to connect the dots to help students make sound educational, career and life-planning choices.

CERIC’s interest in this project is three-fold:

  • To understand the landscape of what is happening in elementary education across Canada related to introducing/building career related foundational skills
  • To use a mixed-methods approach to explore the impact of these conditions and strategies on career development foundational skills
  • To develop a teacher’s aid toolkit that validates teacher practice

Researchers will gather data from educators, parents and grade 4-6 students in public school settings across Canada. Diverse perspectives (including Indigenous communities, immigrant communities, francophone communities, special needs educators, and urban, rural and remote communities) will be included to deepen understanding of individual and collective beliefs, perceptions and interpretations concerning career-related education.

This project builds on earlier CERIC-supported research from Memorial University that investigated the career development process of children, aged 3 to 8 (pre-K to grade 3). It produced two guides – one for Educators and one for Parents – to empower them to support young children during this critical period of play, fun and fantasy.

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graphic of globe surrounded by connectivity linesCareering

Broadband in rural communities key to economic development

June 9, 2020By
COVID-19 brings rural-urban digital divide into stark contrast, highlighting the challenges faced by more than two million Canadians without reliable internet

Ray Orb

Rural, northern and remote communities are essential to Canada’s economy and quality of life. They are home to key industries – from agriculture and natural resources to manufacturing and tourism – and they represent the very fabric of this country. Together, they drive nearly one-third of Canada’s economy and play a crucial role in nation building. Fostering strong, thriving rural communities builds better lives for millions of Canadians and contributes to the prosperity of the entire country.

However, as Canada entered the “Digital Age,” these communities faced distinct challenges that arose from their geography, climate, demographics and more. Right now, two million Canadian households still can’t access a reliable internet connection, which is vital to our economy and quality of life.

Connectivity is now as important as roads and bridges to the success and economic health of every community. It is for these reasons that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has been working with successive federal governments to close the rural-urban digital divide we see in Canada – the so-called “broadband gap.”

These disparities between rural, northern and remote areas and urban centres have only been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic: more and more people need to work remotely, access educational content, apply for federal aid programs, and stay connected with friends and family. This is easier said than done in many areas where there is no guarantee of a reliable internet connection.

This crisis underscores that we need to rapidly address the digital divide within Canada, not only for today, but also for tomorrow; broadband will play a key role in Canada’s economic future and recovery post-COVID-19.

An essential economic driver

It is no secret that the internet is now driving social and economic progress on a scale comparable to the arrival of electricity in the early 20th century. Being connected has rapidly become essential to our prosperity, and Canadians ubiquitously rely on the internet and wireless connectivity for their personal and professional lives. Students need it for homework, entrepreneurs need it to grow their business, and healthcare workers in rural and remote areas need it to communicate with specialists, to access patient data and to provide comprehensive care in harder-to-reach areas.

It is no surprise then, that rural, northern and remote communities overwhelmingly “identified challenges accessing affordable, high-speed internet as the number one issue impeding their economic growth” in a recent Government of Canada report (ISED, 2019).

Connectivity is one of the first things businesses consider when deciding to establish themselves in a community. Consequently, low-quality and high-cost internet can seriously hamper the economic development of rural, northern and remote regions. Furthermore, internet access not only dictates where businesses are established, but also how they are operated. As most local businesses shift to online-only in response to COVID-19, those with limited or no internet access are at a serious disadvantage that could affect their viability.

“Being connected has rapidly become essential to our prosperity.”

While consulting Canadians ahead of presenting the federal government’s connectivity strategy, Canadian officials heard from small businesses being forced to operate on a “cash-only” basis because their internet service was not powerful enough to allow Interac debit payment. They also heard about some farm operations that tried to connect to global markets using fax machines (ISED, 2019).

Expanding internet access for rural, northern and remote communities is a necessity. It means more local entrepreneurs can access broader markets, which is vital to Canada’s economy in today’s global marketplace.

Next steps

With FCM’s support, rural, northern and remote communities across Canada brought national attention to this critical issue. The federal government has since recognized the importance of federal investments to improve broadband coverage and capacity.

Significant investments have been made in recent years: Since 2009, rural municipal leaders from every corner of the country helped secure over $1 billion in federal broadband funding and played a central role in convincing the CRTC to declare universal access to high-speed internet an essential service. Municipalities developed unique partnerships with provincial governments and internet service providers.

Men is typing on laptop computer keyboard
iStock
Pictou County takes internet access into its own hands

Among the 11,000 households in Pictou County, NS, not everyone has access to internet. For those who do, internet can be slow or unreliable. Some families have to drive to the library or Tim Horton’s so that their kids can submit their homework. The development of a high-speed broadband network accessible to everyone is a priority for the community.

Tired of waiting for industry or government to bridge the gap, the Municipality of Pictou County (MOPC) is undertaking a project to build the backbone infrastructure of a broadband network. Once the network is constructed, internet service providers can lease the network from the MOPC, which will generate revenue for the municipality and provide high-speed internet to all residents and business. It’s like a toll highway; the municipality will build the road, but charge others to use the service. Not only is the network self-sustaining, but telecom spend is kept in the community, which enables new services to be delivered. The have partnered with Nova Communications, a division of ROCK Networks, and Nova’s consortium of best-in-class partners to build the network.

Municipalities across Canada are complaining about a lack of funding for community projects including broadband services. The Pictou County model of a community-owned network offers a potential way forward. Empowering rural communities like Pictou County to be able to close the broadband gap will also allow them to grow and prosper. Widely accessible high-speed internet will promote job creation, allow for increased abilities in smart agriculture, create new tourism opportunities and allow businesses to compete in the digital economy without leaving their community.

– Courtesy of Joe Hickey, President and CEO of ROCK Networks, and Nova Communications, a division of ROCK Networks

They used this federal funding to attract private investment, making every dollar go further. In addition, the 2019 federal budget committed unprecedented new funding – $2.7 billion over a decade including a $1 billion Universal Broadband Fund – to help achieve the goal of universal high-speed internet access.

Nevertheless, as technological advances bring a net benefit in communities from coast to coast to coast, they also bring incessant change. Governments and municipalities across the country need to constantly adapt and innovate.

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To close the internet access gap, we need novel approaches to existing policies and investment strategies. We need to look at rural, northern and remote communities in a way that will define and nurture economic potential, drive innovation and build better lives for all Canadians.

In order to succeed, we must apply a rural lens to federal programs and policies. In practice, that might mean adapting funding eligibility criteria or streamlining processes to account for local realities. Fundamentally, it means bringing rural expertise to the table as national solutions are developed. With flexible tools at their disposal and a voice at the decision-making table, local leaders will help deliver tailored, cost-effective solutions that work.

Moving forward, the federal government needs to maintain or exceed recent federal broadband investments, and must also commit long-term, predictable federal funding to expand broadband internet access. Quickly launching the new Universal Broadband Fund will ensure that municipalities struggling to get online during the pandemic are positioned for economic recovery. Co-ordination between federal and provincial/territorial governments and agencies delivering broadband funding will help maximize capital for broader internet access.

If federal policies, programs and funding tools are built around the knowledge, expertise and input of local municipalities, and if they reflect regional priorities, they will more efficiently maintain the competitiveness of communities across the country. Rural municipalities are – and must be – key partners to the federal government in managing and growing the full suite of telecommunications infrastructure that underpins Canada’s economy.

Ray Orb was born in Regina and was raised on a farm in the Markinch district. He entered the world of municipal politics in 1985. He was first elected as a councillor in the Rural Municipality of Cupar, and then Reeve in 1995, a position he currently holds. He is now Chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Rural Forum and President of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM).

References

ISED. (2019). High-Speed Access for All: Canada’s Connectivity Strategy ic.gc.ca/eic/site/139.nsf/eng/h_00002.html

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Network of online business concept.Careering

How to create effective online career workshops

June 9, 2020By
Developing pre-recorded presentations can help broaden access to career services for rural and remote communities

Diane Moore

This article was also published in the Summer 2020 issue of the National Career Development Association’s Career Developments magazine.

Many career development organizations have begun creating online workshops to complement their face-to-face offerings or as a substitute for live seminars. Online workshops can be a great way to provide services to a broader audience, particularly in rural and remote communities where it can be difficult for clients to travel long distances to attend a workshop in person, especially during the winter months. This may be even more important now, as COVID-19 physical distancing has reduced or eliminated opportunities for face-to-face training.

There are two approaches you can take to offering online workshops: live online webinars or pre-recorded, on-demand seminars. Pre-recorded seminars, which will be the focus of this article, make more sense as offerings in remote communities. While we take easy access to Wi-Fi for granted in urban and suburban settings, network connections may be unreliable in rural settings. Also, individuals may not have access at home to the electronic devices they need to connect with webinars in real time and may need to travel to a nearby town to access equipment at a library. By offering pre-recorded, on-demand training sessions, you will ensure clients can access the information they need to support their job search or career decision-making when they need it. If you are asked to create an online workshop for your organization, here are some steps and tools to help you get started.

Compile workshop content on your topic and create an outline. When converting a live workshop to an online offering, the content from a face-to-face workshop is a good place to start. If you’re starting from scratch, research and create your content just as you would for a face-to-face seminar. Assess the needs of your audience and consider what will work effectively in an online format. Be clear about your learning outcomes. What do you want participants to know or be able to do as a result of your seminar? Ensure that every component of your content connects to these outcomes. Keeping it simple is particularly important for online workshops as viewers can quickly “tune out” and lose interest if there is too much information for them to easily absorb. Keep your topic narrow and don’t try to cram in everything you might do in a live workshop. Once you have your content compiled, create an outline of your key points to use later for your narration script.

Select a platform to create your visuals. PowerPoint is the most common software used for presentations. However, you may want to experiment with other programs. Prezi (prezi.com) is a more dynamic way of displaying your visuals as it allows you to zoom in on the different components of your presentation. Canva (canva.com) provides some good presentation templates with colourful and engaging graphics. VideoScribe (videoscribe.co) is also an excellent tool for creating animated presentations. These programs have free trial versions, but check their limitations to ensure they meet your needs. If your organization wants to make online presentations a permanent feature, a full version of the program(s) you prefer will need to be purchased.

Young student watching lesson online and studying from home.

Create the visual framework for your presentation. Design a rough draft of your visuals using the program you’ve selected. Put each of the key points you outlined on separate slides. It’s okay if you don’t have wording fully fleshed out yet. As you work through the remaining steps, you may decide to replace some of the text with images or graphics.

For each slide, decide on the best way to deliver the content. In live workshops, we usually alternate content delivery with activities that participants do independently and in small groups. You want to replicate this process as much as possible when designing online presentations. For example, you might do a two-minute introduction to your topic, then ask a question and have participants write down their answers.

Add visual interest to your presentation by displaying some information in graphic form. For example, you might place a mind map at the beginning of your presentation showing all the points you’re covering at a glance. Popplet.com offers a good tool for creating mind maps. Or you might create an infographic (venngage.com) to provide statistics related to your topic. Shutterstock.com offers a good inventory of free images. Allow extra time as visual elements take a bit longer to design than just putting text on a slide.

Read more on CareerWise

Fill in the rest of your content on the slides. Go back to any slides where you have just rough ideas written down and flesh them out further. Continue with this step until you have finalized the text and images you want on each slide. Ensure your text is correct and visuals are all firmly in place before you begin recording.

Create a script for your narration. Use the key points from the outline of your text to create a word-for-word script. Some people can do their narration just using a list of bullet points. However, if you’re nervous about recording yourself, using an exact script will help you to eliminate “ums” or “ahs” and present your content smoothly. Rehearse your script a few times by reading it out loud before trying to record.

Choose a method to record your narration. PowerPoint has options for recording narration on slides, but it can sometimes be a bit glitchy depending on the version you use. A program like Screencast-o-matic (screencastomatic.com) is an excellent alternative for recording narration. It’s easy to learn and there’s a good trial version allowing users to record videos up to 15 minutes long. You can record your narration using your computer’s microphone as you advance through your slides on your screen. There are other options for recording narration, but pairing Screencast-o-matic with PowerPoint is an easy place to start if you’re creating your first online presentation. Ensure that the program you choose allows you to add closed captions in compliance with accessibility guidelines.

 Record your narration in a professional manner. Incorporate some inflection into your voice rather than reading your script in a monotone. Experiment with your microphone to get the best sound quality. Using good headphones can sometimes produce better sound quality than speaking directly into your microphone. Record your narration in a quiet room where you will not be disturbed.

The first couple of times you create a video can be a bit time consuming, but eventually you will master the software and become quicker at designing engaging, professional videos. Developing this skill can support your organization’s commitment to fully serve its client base in remote communities, while also enhancing your own competencies as a career development professional.

Diane Moore, MEd, CCDP, teaches online courses for the Career Development Practitioner Program at George Brown College and the Career Development Professional Program at Conestoga College. 

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Smart farming and agritech.Careering

Canada’s agriculture sector must adapt to overcome chronic labour shortages

June 9, 2020By
The industry needs training to improve worker expertise and ensure farm employers have skills to manage their workforce

 Jennifer Wright

This article was also published in the Summer 2020 issue of the National Career Development Association’s Career Developments magazine.

For decades, Canada has been a world-leading exporter of agricultural products, and our contribution to food production is expected to continue to grow in the years to come. Unfortunately, most provinces and many commodities in Canada are affected by the agriculture sector’s chronic and significant labour shortages. In 2018, more than 16,400 positions went unfilled, costing the industry $2.9 billion in lost sales. The inability to find a skilled and knowledgeable workforce directly affects sales, productivity and expansion plans.

The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council’s (CAHRC) Agriculture Forecast to 2029 helps us understand today’s agricultural workforce requirements to be able to source and train an adequate workforce. The forecast confirms that future operational success, expansion and innovation are not possible if the industry does not increase youth interest, focus on effective recruitment channels, invest in knowledge and skill enhancement, and expand retention practices to secure the labour pool required for the future.

Identifying key challenges

As part of the Agriculture Forecast research, CAHRC conducted a survey that had participation across the country by industry, types of workforce (eg, management, owners, family workforce, employees and foreign workers) and across all provinces. Over 1,700 farm employers, managers and employees participated in the labour market forecast, including more than 1,300 farm business owners.

The survey found that the key challenges in attracting and retaining workers included too much or too difficult manual labour and that the seasonal nature of work does not interest applicants. The rural location of operations and low wages were also reported as challenges in attracting and retaining workers. Rural areas are also seeing declining populations, which means a decline in the local labour force. A need to increase awareness of the opportunities in agriculture and food production was also mentioned in the survey and may affect the ability of food producers to attract applicants.

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Evolving skills

In many industries, advancements in technology have reduced labour requirements, but they have also resulted in the need for workers with highly technical and advanced skills. Data from the forecast indicates that the evolving skills required to work in many agriculture sectors will demand training to improve worker expertise.

A shift in skills also brings with it new career opportunities. This includes training related to data management, oversight of digital equipment and specialized animal care. The development and promotion of agriculture-related training and careers is essential to create interest in working in agriculture. Businesses, educational institutions and government will need to work with industry to co-ordinate training and career development programs that address the need for specific competencies and knowledge development within the agriculture sector.

“Continuing to find ways to make agriculture an attractive and viable career path will be an important strategy in accessing more of the domestic workforce,” says Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, Executive Director of CAHRC. “It will take concerted effort, multiple strategies and a sustained approach so that we can truly make a difference. Developing and implementing training and education programs that support the future needs of the sector will certainly be one solution for ensuring a healthy future for Canadian agriculture.”

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Developing HR expertise

 Employees should not be the only focus. We must also ensure employers are adequately trained to effectively work with their staff. Many farmers rely on international workers for labour. However, applications for the Government of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) programs are complex, and navigating these initiatives requires a deeper understanding of human resource management techniques. Not following all the regulations related to TFW programs can result in serious consequences for farmers’ businesses.

Regardless of the source of labour, ensuring farm employers have human resource skills to manage their workforce is critical. The adoption of best practices in human resource management and manager training will assist the agriculture sector with the development of more effective recruitment and retention strategies. Farm business owners need to be knowledgeable about the latest human resource practices to support employees on the farm.

Farm managers also need to be knowledgeable about human resource practices to reduce turnover and associated costs. Retaining employees is easier and less expensive than finding new workers. Giving farm business owners the tools they need to be able to hire and keep qualified, reliable employees will be vital to lowering turnover costs. To address the labour issues identified in the research, CAHRC has developed agriculture-specific human resource tools and training programs designed to help modern farm operations manage their workforce.

Smart agriculture: Future to crop quality improvement
iStock
Securing the future

This data and understanding of the current agri-workforce issue highlights the fact that unless the agriculture sector can adapt and secure a reliable, qualified and skilled workforce, our ability to produce food now and in the future will be at risk. Information and data from the labour market forecast can help us find solutions and develop strategies to address workforce issues effectively. Ensuring human resource best practices are well entrenched across the industry will also support attraction of workers to the industry and retention of workers once they join the industry.

Jennifer Wright, CAHRC’s Senior HR Advisor and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist,  grew up on a family farm and farm equipment dealership in Southwestern Ontario. She has worked in HR policy, leadership, inclusion and diversity, recruitment and retention in agriculture and other industries for 20+ years.

References

CAHRC. (n.d.) How Labour Challenges Will Shape the Future of Agriculture in Canada: Agriculture Forecast to 2029. Retrieved from cahrc-ccrha.ca/sites/default/files/CAHRC-National-Report-FINAL-August-19-2019.pdf

 

 

 

 

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Brandon, MB.Careering

Immigration pilot program takes aim at labour shortages in Manitoba

June 9, 2020By
Proven track record of retaining newcomers made Brandon an ideal locale to test out Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

Sandy Trudel

headshot of authorThe Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) has proven to be a breath of fresh air in the search for a solution to chronic labour shortages in Brandon, Manitoba’s second-largest city. With the federal government entrusting the determination of labour needs to the municipality, the program has been embraced by businesses of all types and sizes.

Like many smaller urban centres across Canada, Brandon faces challenges when competing for a highly mobile labour force. Labour shortages have long been reported by Brandon employers as the greatest barrier to economic growth and prosperity. The competition for labour coupled with an aging population and a growing community mean that many of our local businesses cannot reach their full economic potential. A historically low unemployment rate and a heavy reliance on temporary foreign workers in certain sectors, combined with the community’s proven track record of successfully settling and retaining newcomers, set the stage for Brandon applying to be part of the RNIP.

What is the RNIP?

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a program introduced by the federal government to extend the benefits of immigration to the workforce and economy to smaller communities. It established a new permanent residency immigration stream that is only accessible to the 11 participating communities, including Brandon. This makes the program highly desirable to those looking to immigrate to Canada as they are competing for a recommendation in one community rather than competing with the large number of people looking to immigrate through existing permanent residence pathways.

The goal of the pilot is simple: to fill chronic job vacancies as identified by the participating community with individuals who have a genuine intent to stay there once they receive permanent residence. For Brandon, the goal is to provide local employers with another tool to meet their labour needs, thus helping them achieve full economic potential.

“Labour shortages have long been reported by Brandon employers as the greatest barrier to economic growth and prosperity.”

The pilot empowers participating communities to determine what jobs are eligible and to recommend individuals for permanent residency based on community-established evaluation criteria. For those familiar with the Provincial Nominee Program, RNIP functions in much the same way, but instead of the province establishing nominee criteria, determining labour market need and administering the program, those decisions now reside with the community. The RNIP has federally established eligibility requirements for the applicant, such as work experience, language requirements and educational requirements. Employers must also meet criteria regarding wages and the provision of full-time work.

Read more on CareerWise

Why Brandon?

With approximately 7,500 newcomers welcomed to Brandon in the past 10 years, the community is familiar and comfortable with using immigration to meet labour needs. A statistically representative survey undertaken each year for the past decade to gauge the community’s reaction to immigration has confirmed that approximately 90% of the community feels that immigration has positively affected or had no impact at all on their quality of life. Newcomers are living in every area of the city, employed in the majority, if not all businesses, and students with English as an additional language are enrolled in all of the local public schools and post-secondary institutions.

Chart of Brandon survey results of community members' sentiment regarding newcomers
Courtesy of City of Brandon

Our grocery stores evolved to offer a wide array of international foods, businesses advertise in languages other than English and service providers have adapted their service delivery methods to keep with the changing community demographics. Newcomers participate in recreational opportunities including sports, dance and theatre. We have many new spiritual organizations and the existing organizations have embraced the newcomer population. It was so exciting the first time a bus bench that had always contained English advertisements displayed a Spanish ad. Though this might seem like a small milestone elsewhere, for Brandon, it was a strong message about how newcomers had been integrated into the community.

The successful integration of thousands of newcomers has not happened by chance. Early on, the community recognized the economic and social benefits of having newcomers move to Brandon and proactively worked to ensure that the community was ready, willing and able to provide an environment that not only attracted newcomers but also retained them. In the early days when language was a problem, we formed an interpretation co-op to ensure quality interpretive services were available community-wide and at a reasonable cost. Westman Immigrant Services, an immigrant-serving organization, now manages interpretive services in the city along with delivering language instruction, settlement services, employment services and newcomer-oriented programs.

How the RNIP works in Brandon

The Brandon RNIP, which formally launched last December, is being administered by Economic Development Brandon (EDB) with the support of our RNIP Recommendation Committee.

Employers interested in the program are screened by EDB to ensure they meet eligibility criteria as a business. In addition, each job is vetted to confirm proof exists of an inability to fill the positions locally, provincially or nationally. Once vetting is complete, approved jobs are posted online on the Brandon RNIP website.

From the applicant side, the process looks like this:

  1. Interested applicants create a profile on the Brandon RNIP site.
  2. They apply for positions through the online job application software.
  3. Relevant applicants are sent to and screened by the employer.
  4. If a job offer is extended and accepted, the applicant must also undergo a video. interview to assess their intention to reside in Brandon.
  5. If they are approved by the RNIP Recommendation Committee, the applicant can apply for permanent residence and for a temporary work permit with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The impact of the RNIP

Brandon expected a strong response to the program launch but we had no idea what the magnitude would be. In the first four months of operation, 14,086 individuals created candidate profiles and 10,288 job applications were received for the 23 positions posted on the RNIP website. It is only in the past few weeks that we actually caught up on vetting the applications received. Six individuals have received Community Recommendations thus far.

One of the successful applicants fills a position critical to the hiring company’s growth plans that has been vacant for well over two years. Another candidate who recently received a job offer, if successful in receiving a Community Recommendation, will fill a position vacant for over three years. We very recently received notification that an employer who has been trying to hire for two specialized positions for over five years is extending job offers to candidates found through our RNIP job portal. The RNIP appears to be doing what it was intended to and will likely have the most notable positive impact on addressing chronic labour vacancies in our community when compared to any other local workforce initiative undertaken to date.

Sandy Trudel has worked in the field of economic development for 26 years. As Director of Economic Development for the City of Brandon, she is responsible for establishing the strategic direction and goals for economic development in order to achieve economic and population growth.

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business woman in front of two roads thinking decidingCareering

Principles in Action: Shattering the career path myth lowers students’ anxiety about the future

June 9, 2020By

Brittany Gilbert

With a goal of bringing greater clarity and consistency to our national conversations about career development, CERIC developed a set of “Guiding Principles of Career Development” that have been enthusiastically embraced across Canada. These eight Guiding Principles are intended as a starting point to inform discussions with clients, employers, funders, policy-makers and families. This is the final article in our series exploring how career professionals are applying each Principle in practice. CERIC has recently released six Action Plans based on the Guiding Principles that provide starter questions, practical interventions and fun exercises to apply with different client groups.

Guiding Principle: Career development means making the most of talent and potential, however you define growth and success – not necessarily linear advancement.

Who better to explore the Guiding Principle of Career Development of “making the most of talent and potential” than our young people?

And young people we have in droves at HIEC Career Lab.

Each academic year, 7,000 students throughout Halton Region in Ontario cross the threshold of our building for an informative, hands-on, research-based experience in career exploration thanks to a partnership between the Halton school boards, many corporate partners, three generations of enthusiastic educators and a very supportive bus line.

While our entire activity bank targets any one or more of the eight Principles of Career Development, there is one activity in particular that best illustrates the importance of making the most of talent and potential, however you define success: The Career Path Myth.

The career path myth 

For this activity, we show the students an illustration representing the Career Path Myth from Cathy Campbell and Peggy Dutton’s book Career Crafting the Decade after High School published by CERIC. It outlines the steps of how many people think career paths are supposed to look:

  1. Finish high school
  2. Choose a post-secondary pathway (ie, apprenticeship, college, university or workplace)
  3. Graduate
  4. Get a job
  5. Work
  6. Retire

And the conversation goes something like this:

“You’re off to high school in about a year and a half. After high school, you are going to choose a post-secondary pathway – all pathways are equally valid. If you choose to do a post-secondary program, you will graduate from that program and get a job right out of the gate. You will work that job for 40 years or roughly 80,000 hours and you are going to retire at 65. Is that pathway familiar to everyone?”

As the program instructor, I am met with a sea of smiling, nodding faces.

Time to lay down the gauntlet.

“What if I told you that your career path doesn’t start when you finish high school, but instead you’ve already begun?”

Deadpan faces.

“What if I told you that your career pathway is very unlikely to look much like what is on the screen at all?”

One eye brow on each face rises towards the roof.

Of course, these responses are unsurprising. This is the formula that our young people have been taught by their parents and/or possibly their grandparents – “That pathway worked for them, so why wouldn’t it work for me?”

Most youth want the answer – now!

Much of this has to do with the anxiety that our young people feel when they think about their futures. There are a multitude of pathways, a plethora of job titles and endless decisions to make.

Ultimately, they don’t feel in control of their lives because they haven’t been able to make any decisions for themselves at their age. We aim to alleviate a lot of those anxieties in the rich dialogue that follows, which explores a number of non-threatening actions that students are already doing or could be doing in order to make them feel just a little bit more in control of their futures.

Don’t miss our past Principles in Action articles:

The career path truth 

First, we have to inform the students of why the traditional, linear pathway simply doesn’t exist for most today. It is based on the assumption that young peoples’ career paths only begin once they graduate high school. This suggests students have no power to start developing the skills or making the decisions they need to be successful in adulthood until they have their high school diploma. We know this is inaccurate and detrimental to the professional development and emotional well-being of young people.

Second, the linear career path model appears to be a race to the finish line – retirement – as opposed to an ongoing winding path of building skills and improving talent and potential.

Finally, this model can create a dangerous culture of competition, which could result in a number of people feeling as though they are failing in the “game of life.” “Why did I wait so long to choose a post-secondary program – all my peers are already working full time?” 

This can create a low sense of self-worth in individuals, therefore negatively affecting their motivation to increase their talent and potential and contribute positively to the economy.

Having sufficiently satisfied most of the young peoples’ doubts at this point, I show them a new illustration of a pathway that looks nothing like the model with which they are familiar. This career path is more like a web and is disruptive to say the least – the kids are excited by it!

In this model, we’ve included components that better illustrate how the things students are already doing contribute significantly to their career paths. We also stress the fact that this model is flexible, adaptable and forever changing.

“What if I told you that your career path doesn’t start when you finish high school, but instead you’ve already begun?”

A rich dialogue begins to unravel and students start to understand the real value of the following:

  • Part-time work:

    Some of our young people are already getting paid work for things like babysitting or pet sitting. While they think it’s just something to do for pocket money, we help them understand that they are optimizing their talent and potential through building useful skills such as problem solving, communication, relationship building and self-reliance.

  • Volunteer opportunities:

    Our young people know that volunteering is an important part of being a global citizen, but we help them recognize how the act of volunteering benefits their career by further maximizing their talent and potential through building skills such as strength and stamina, co-ordination and, in some cases, technical/mechanical skills.

  • Apprenticeship/co-op:

    We also highlight some opportunities that students can partake in as they move forward through their academic career in order to support their full potential.

Through this conversation, we see students recognize that their career journey has indeed already begun because they are building on the key skills they need to make the most of their talent and potential in the early stages of their lives, and they begin to understand that this adventure is ongoing and lifelong.

After 30 years of talking to students about career development, it never fails that the conversation on the way back to the bus signifies a clear change in students’ perspectives about their career journey from when they arrived – a decreased level of anxiety around the unknown and an excitement in the air of student ownership around their own career paths.

Brittany Gilbert has a BA in English Literature and Theatre from the University of Ottawa and a BEd from Queen’s University. She is currently the School Program Coordinator at Halton Industry Education Council (HIEC) in Burlington, ON, where she offers Career Awareness Programming to Grade 7 students from all across Halton.

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A view from the Mont Sutton chair-lift in Autumn.Careering

Public, private, and civil society sector collaboration: Essential components of Canada’s future prosperity

June 9, 2020By
A tale of one community’s life-changing adaptation through innovation and co-operation

Kirsten Hathaway

Among the many observations and lessons learned through the COVID-19 crisis, the most effective responses on a global scale have been those that have equally engaged public, private and civil society sectors to collaborate and find innovative solutions to the acute challenges being faced by governments, communities, institutions, businesses and citizens.

This tripartite model, at first glance, makes common sense. Why wouldn’t all three sectors aim to work together to identify solutions to common challenges? It must be happening all the time for our society to function properly.

The fact is, it rarely happens, and no formal, easily replicable model exists. The Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC), based in Quebec, is actively working to bridge the three sectors by building a model that integrates all three equally and confers the benefits to all accordingly. This type of tripartite collaboration organized around an opportunity can generate sustainable economic benefits that balance the needs of the whole community, especially in rural areas that tend to feel the impact of external economic forces more severely.

A current working example, as outlined in this article, highlights how this type of collaboration model can affect a community, particularly when its creation and execution pivot on the essential role of a central facilitator, such as CEDEC.

Learning and earning at Mont Sutton

Mont Sutton is a key economic driver in its namesake Quebec town, drawing tourists during the winter and summer seasons, and generating secondary business activity related to hospitality. Like many businesses across sectors, the province and the country, Mont Sutton faced a critical labour shortage that affected its ability to operate at full capacity for several consecutive seasons. Since the mountain serves a bilingual customer base, the business also required a certain number of bilingual employees in key roles, adding an additional challenge given the small labour pool.

A CEDEC-led action plan rapidly aligned Mont Sutton, the Eastern Townships School Board and Services Quebec around an integrated workforce training model. The region’s first “Earn as You Learn” francization program targeted English speakers and provincial newcomers and was designed to help both existing and potential Mont Sutton employees develop business-specific, French-language customer service skills that would enable them to work at Mont Sutton during the 2019-2020 winter season.

“It took some time to bring the three sectors around the table but when everybody was on board with the same vision, we had to find innovative ways of then moving [the program] forward,” recalled Nina Kim, CEDEC Project Manager.

“This type of tripartite collaboration organized around an opportunity can generate sustainable economic benefits that balance the needs of the whole community.”

Equally creative strategies would be needed to ensure success. So, during the off-season, the partners developed a plan to integrate program candidates into Mont Sutton’s workforce through pre-season essential skills training, with jobs ready and waiting for them before the ski centre’s peak period.

All partners recognized the innovative nature of the endeavour. “Francization is already offered through the school board,” said program teacher Marie-France Argouin, “but adapting it on such a level for a [specific] workplace as such was really new … real innovation.”

For Mont Sutton, which had the added value of having the training onsite, the benefits were clear, as their HR Co-ordinator, Veronique Dumont pointed out: “As soon as the season starts our employees are already qualified, trained; they know the jargon, they know the mountain, because the whole program was developed around our operations.”

Eleven participants completed the first cohort of the remunerated 10-week/300-hour francization and training program in November 2019. Graduates, in turn, became ideal ambassadors and coaches for onboarding new recruits to the program, as well as prime candidates for continuing their Mont Sutton employment experience in the summer tourism season ahead. The ski centre is now looking forward to a mutually rewarding second phase.

Perhaps the experience is best summed up by program graduate Arley Guzman [translated from French]: “For me, this training was like a door opening. Once we enter, we can do anything we want in life,” adding that his enhanced French language skills have opened him up to Quebec culture outside of work as well.

But CEDEC’s work, like the project itself, was just beginning. While CEDEC is considering how the model can be adapted to other sectors, Sutton partners are exploring how the program can be adapted to meet the tourism sector’s needs year-round.

Meanwhile, back in town

As the Town of Sutton witnessed this early exciting win with a key economic player in the region, officials were eager to engage in public-private-civil society collaboration, too. With the ultimate goal of increasing the town’s tax base to provide community services, conversations always come back to the imminent need of workers to fill labour gaps, affordable housing for those workers, and a high quality of life to attract and retain them. CEDEC delivered an objective, evidence-based economic portrait of Sutton to help inform dialogue between the municipality and stakeholders.

The partners are continuing their exploration of opportunities both in and beyond the original three focal areas (workforce development, agri-foods and affordable housing). Subsequent meetings with local entrepreneurs have moved projects forward. In particular, this has mobilized stakeholders around agri-food opportunities through the creation of a local food transformation “hub.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges, the use of video conferencing technology combined with the collective goodwill and motivation of the partners to forge on has mitigated the loss of momentum.

Mont Sutton, after gearing up its staff for the winter season, suffered dearly due to its forced closure early on in Quebec’s response to COVID-19. However, through ongoing engagement in the partnership, it is already mobilizing to rehire employee/trainees for the summer season both at the hill and in partnership with a nearby summer hospitality tourism business.

“Our tripartite partnership with CEDEC, the school board and the provincial government has remained strong during the COVID-19 crisis due to our consistent communication and the solid relationship we’ve developed over the last year. This relationship has enabled us to get through the pandemic with our feet on the ground while planning ahead for the start of Phase II in June,” said Dumont.

Sutton’s success story demonstrates the many positive outcomes of public, private and civil society collaboration: this model has generated greater worker mobility within Mont Sutton; increased the capacity of the local tourism sector due to increased bilingualism and customer service skills; and it is giving one of the region’s major employers (350 employees) a fighting chance to recover in the “new normal” post COVID-19.

Kirsten Hathaway has led the CEDEC communications department since 2004 and is committed to the organization’s evolution as it mobilizes public, private and civil society sector collaboration around economic growth opportunities and generates tangible benefits for communities and individuals. To learn more about the model and other collaborations such as in Mont Sutton, consider attending the Creating Inclusive Economies: Building Bridges Between Public, Private and Civil Society Sectors Conference, co-hosted by CEDEC and the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) planned for Fall 2021 in Rimouski, Quebec.

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young man working on farmCareering

The future of agriculture in the United States

June 9, 2020By
Exploring labour shortages in US agriculture and potential solutions for the future

Melissa A. Messer

This article was also published in the Summer 2020 issue of the National Career Development Association’s Career Developments magazine.

author headshotAs we enter summer, many of our favourite foods will soon be ripe and ready to be harvested. However, what may not be ready is a workforce that is available when crops are.

Current labour shortages

The American Farm Bureau Federation indicates that US agriculture needs 1.5 to 2 million hired workers (Economic Impact of Immigration, 2020). These challenging, often seasonal positions are essential to food production – but few US citizens are willing to fill them. A California Farm Bureau Federation survey found that 56% of California farmers have been unable to find all the workers they need over the past five years (Survey: California farms face continuing employee shortages, 2019).

Given this chronic labour shortage, immigrants – mostly from Mexico – play an increasingly crucial role in our food system. Foreign-born workers can legally come to the United States to perform short-term farm labour under the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program, often referred to as the H-2A visa program.

Rules are in place so that the H-2A program does not take jobs from domestic workers or lower the average wage. Before hiring H-2A workers, farm employers must demonstrate to the DOL that they are unable to recruit US citizens for their open positions. They are also required to pay a state-specific minimum wage that may not be lower than the average wage for crop and livestock workers in their region during the prior year, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate.

Once approved, H-2A visa holders are allowed to work in the US temporarily. The visa can be re-approved annually for up to three years. A worker loses their H-2A status if they leave their job. After a worker has three years of H-2A status, they are required to leave the United States for at least three months before applying to receive a H-2A visa again. The H-2A visa does not apply to a worker’s family members and does not give workers a way to gain permanent legal status. Unlike the H-2B program, there is no cap set on the total number of H-2A visas that can be granted each year.

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The future of farming

“By the year 2050, US growers will need to reach an impressive level of food production to help feed a growing world population. Fewer in number, they will operate multifaceted businesses with stunning new technology to increase efficiency on farms.” (The Future of Farming, 2020)

There are several predictions as to what the future of farming will look like and what additional labor demands will be:

  • Food demand increases – Farmers will be expected to increase their food production by 70% in order to meet the needs compared to 2007
  • Consolidation acceleration – The 2012 census data revealed the significant number of older farmers (65 and older) who will soon be exiting the workforce with fewer younger growers to replace them.
  • High-tech solutions – In order to deal with the lack of labour, it is likely that more tech solutions will be used including drones, robots, increased use of data in farm management, gene editing and other emerging agriculture technology.
Resources for career counsellors and professionals
  • National FFA and Discovery Education have joined forces to create a robust, comprehensive career resource called Ag Explorer to help you explore the broad range of careers within the industry of agriculture.
  • AgHires is a recruiting, job-posting website and HR company for the Agriculture and Food Production industries. AgHires helps agribusinesses, farms, grain operations, specialty crops, food processors, livestock, biotechnology and other relatable businesses hire employees.
  • The year 2050 is a key moment in time – the world’s population will be a projected 10 billion. Food production needs are expected to rise by 60-70% and changing agronomic conditions will put pressure on agricultural yields. Journey 2050 is a free agriculture education program that challenges participants to answer the question “How will we sustainably feed 9 billion people by the year 2050?”

Melissa A. Messer, MHS, is the Director of Product Development for Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. She oversees all new product acquisitions and development and manages a team of project directors and quality control specialists. Messer is the author of several assessments, including the Academic Achievement Battery (AAB) series, the Working Styles Assessment (WSA), and the Work Values Inventory (WVI). She has been the Editor of NCDA’s Career Developments Magazine since 2015.

References

Economic Impact of Immigration. (2020, May, 11). Retrieved from fb.org/issues/immigration-reform/agriculture-labor-reform/economic-impact-of-immigration

Gasiorowski-Denis, E. (2017). The future of farming. iso.org/news/Ref2183.htm

Survey: California farms face continuing employee shortages. (2019). cfbf.com/news/survey-california-farms-face-continuing-employee-shortages/

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Careering

North American rural workforce development: Poised for growth

June 9, 2020By
Efforts must be made to attract new industries and build skills-training pathways in rural communities

Rebecca Merlenbach and Sarah Patterson-Mills

This article was also published in the Summer 2020 issue of the National Career Development Association’s Career Developments magazine.

Workforce development, a relatively recent term and concept that has developed over the past two decades, describes a wide range of activities and public policies related to learning and skill building for entry into the world of work. A 2019 Federal Reserve National Brief, Investing in America’s Workforce, outlined several rural workforce development priorities based on a series of dialogues between the Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis Federal Reserve and community leaders, policy-makers and higher-education institutions. These areas were:

  • Education and technology training opportunities to expand skill development
  • Economic diversification
  • Improving the quality of jobs available
  • Enhanced infrastructure that allows for access to technology
  • Partnerships across non-for-profit, public and private sectors to facilitate economic regional growth (Bozarth & Strifler, 2019, p. 2)

Historically, rural employment opportunities have consisted largely of blue-collar and unskilled jobs including agriculture and reliance on natural resources. As discussed in the list above, in order for workforce development in rural areas to be successful, public policy efforts must widen the scope in order to attract new industries and grow rural populations, which in turn strengthens the economy.

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In the US and Canada, 70 years ago, over 70% of workers lived in remote areas while today the inverse is true, with 66% of workers living in urban areas (Leeson, 2018). In the US, rural counties have experienced a 3% population growth rate since 2000, which can be attributed to gains in rural communities on the edges of metropolitan areas, while more remote counties continued to lose population. In Canada today, 81.4% of the population lives in urban and suburban areas (Plecher, 2019). Thus, in the US and Canada, the lack of available workers adversely affects rural economies, which stymies population growth, eroding stability in these areas.

To ensure American and Canadian career practitioners are able to effectively serve those in rural communities, access issues may need to be considered and resolved. Internet and other technological tools to reach our clients may be less available, for instance. Cost for counselling services may be an additional consideration and practitioners may consider sliding or reduced fee scales to make services affordable for those who are earning less per capita. In addition to providing affordable and accessible sessions to rural clients, access to more training programs is essential. Students and employees who are looking for a sustainable future may need different training programs such as those in agriculture or other non-traditional post-secondary pathways. Career counsellors are encouraged to advocate for social justice and advocate for these types of accessibility.

Education and technology training opportunities to expand skill development

Once barriers are overcome, there are many strengths that a rural workforce provides for the entire economy of a country such as food supply for export and domestic consumption. There appears to be a rural population shift in Canada and the US with increased immigrant populations settling in them (Ajilore & Willingham, 2019). As career practitioners and social justice advocates, we can help our clients recognize and develop their own social capital through a review of interests, abilities and values they hold. Government funding can go a long way to growing workforce opportunities in rural areas. Land is cheaper and larger distribution centres and manufacturing may be more profitable in these areas. In addition, natural resources and community social capitol bolster the threads in these communities, and with government subsidies, institutions of higher education can also contribute to the growth of these communities.

As new industries and technologies are introduced, higher-education institutions can support these efforts by adding programs that provide skills training to rural employees. Since 2017, partnerships between governing bodies and community colleges in the United States have increased focus on legislation to provide more equitable access to education for adult learners, especially in states largely composed of rural populations. These actions are removing barriers and providing funding to support short-term programs that meet the local industry needs (NCLS, 2018). Short-term skills-training programs offered by community colleges and job-training centres have wrap-around benefits for the economy and must be better equipped to “nimbly” respond to current rural workforce demands (Dews, 2013). These programs benefit the employee by increasing their skills and abilities, making them more valuable, and thus – hopefully –increasing their wages. Employers benefit from partnerships with these programs, as they can provide a pipeline to human capital for companies that are experiencing worker shortage.

Rural areas across the US and Canada are home to different cultures, people, businesses and infrastructure, and are far from geographically or economically homogenous. Rural areas are less densely populated and less connected to major centres of employment and thus face unique challenges affecting job growth and advanced work skills training. It is our responsibility to the profession to ensure we provide services that are accessible to all, are inclusive and social-justice minded, and honour the diversity within and between communities.

Sarah Patterson-Mills, PhD, LPC is the Program Chair for School Counseling at Lindenwood University for the Illinois and Missouri Campuses. She has worked in developing college career centers and directing them over five years.

Robyn Gunn is pursuing a Master’s of Arts at Lindenwood University and has a BA in Psychology (cum laude) with concentration in special education. In her final year of Master’s in Counseling Program-School Counseling at Lindenwood University, she also works as a Graduate Assistant in the Counseling Department.

References

Ajilore, O. & Willingham, Z. (2019, October 21) Adversity and assets: identifying rural opportunities. Center for American Progress. americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2019/10/21/476097/adversity-assets-identifying-rural-opportunities/

Bozarth, A. & Strifler, W. M. (2019). Strengthening workforce development in rural areas. The 2019 Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Retrieved from: investinwork.org/-/media/Files/reports/strengthening-workforce-development-rural-areas.pdf

Dews. F. (2013). Closing the Skills Gap through Workforce Development Policy. BROOKINGS.

Leeson, G. W. (2018). The growth, ageing and urbanisation of our world. Journal of Population Ageing, 11(2), 107-115. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12062-018-9225-7

National Career Development Association (2015).  Code of Ethics.  ncda.org/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/3395

National Conference of State Legislatures (2018). Higher education legislation in 2017. ncsl.org/research/education/higher-education-legislation-in-2017.aspx

Opinko, D. (2019, October 3). Canada’s population grows by more than 500,000 in one year. Lethbridge News. lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/10/03/canadas-population-grows-by-more-than-500000-in-one-year/

Plecher, H.(2019, December 11). Urbanization in Canada 2018. Retrieved on 2/25/2019 from: statista.com/statistics/271208/urbanization-in-canada/

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