Monday, June 18, 2007
MTCU Community Stakeholder Meetings
As ACTEW's representative, Deanna Yerichuk attended the MTCU Central Region Community Engagement Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday June 14, along with several ACTEW member agencies from the GTA. Many of the concerns held by ACTEW members are shared with the other employment and training stakeholders attending this Central Region meeting.
The goal of the MTCU "community stakeholder engagement meetings" is to assess local employment and training needs as MTCU moves forward with Employment Ontario. The consultation Deanna participated in was one of five that are occurring within Central Region alone, and all regions will be holding similar meetings in an effort to focus on local planning. MTCU will compile the feedback and release reports in the Fall.
Four themes emerged at the Central Region meeting.
The goal of the MTCU "community stakeholder engagement meetings" is to assess local employment and training needs as MTCU moves forward with Employment Ontario. The consultation Deanna participated in was one of five that are occurring within Central Region alone, and all regions will be holding similar meetings in an effort to focus on local planning. MTCU will compile the feedback and release reports in the Fall.
Four themes emerged at the Central Region meeting.
- The employment and training system needs to be flexible in order to equally accommodate the diverse needs and barriers of all clients.
-> Among agencies serving women only that responded to ACTEW's Pre-LMDA Survey, this point was especially important. In particular, these agencies see multi-barriered clients excluded from programs because of eligibility criteria.
Funding for supports such as transportation and child care is essential.
-> The majority of respondents to our survey told us they did not have enough funding for program supports.
The expertise of local boards, umbrellas and agencies are a key way for MTCU to reach priority client groups, perform research, and engage community stakeholders, and the Ministry can tap into this expertise more.
-> Pre-LMDA Survey respondents indicated that there were a number of regional differences in the province, and agencies have evolved innovative ways of making the most of their specific advantages. You can review some outstanding programs in our profile listings.
Strategies are needed that will draw employers into the dialogue on labour market development.
-> This was an important issue at the Ottawa meeting ACTEW hosted with the Ottawa Women’s Training and Employment Network.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Meetings_and_Events, MTCU_Updates
