Tuesday, January 22, 2008
MTCU Update: New Federal Investments; Program Design Update; Upcoming focus groups on Service Delivery Framework
Deanna Yerichuk attended the January 18 Employment Ontario Service Delivery Advisory Group meeting. Three key topics were covered:
New Federal Investments as Ontario negotiates a Labour Market Agreement
Kevin French, Assistant Deputy Minister of MTCU, is leading negotiations with the government of Canada to sign a Labour Market Agreement (LMA), which would transfer new funding Ontario for labour market training initiatives (read ACTEW’s blog of the 2007 federal budget announcement). The LMA is in fact replacing the Labour Market Partnership Agreement (LMPA), and two investment priorities have been earmarked for the money:
1) non-EI-eligible clients
2) low skill workers
It was confirmed at the meeting that these priorities mean that funding will be able to support Ontarians who do not currently qualify for EI, as well as Ontarians that are under-employed and/or precariously employed.
There was no mention of Ontario’s share of the $500 million annually promised across Canada, but they do expect the agreement in place for the money to start to flow in 2008/09 fiscal year.
Program Design Update
The External Service Delivery Reference Group on Program Design – Employment had an intensive planning session in January to determine guiding principles and provide feedback on the proposed employment services delivery model. Here are just a few of the key components of the new integrated system (targeted to be implemented in April 2009):
A revised document will be released at the end of January. ACTEW is planning a members’ meeting for mid-February to review these discussions in detail with our representative Honey Crossley (Working Skills Centre) who sits on this external stakeholder advisory group. ACTEW members will receive information about this session shortly.
Upcoming focus groups on Service Delivery Framework
MTCU has completed the Jurisdictional Review, and is fine-tuning a discussion paper on the current Service Delivery Framework. Coordinated by the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres (OAYEC), MTCU will be holding a series of focus groups and inviting written submissions at the end of February. ACTEW members will have an opportunity to attend these focus groups around the province. Stay tuned for more information.
Materials from the January 18 meeting will be placed on the Employment Ontario Partners’ Gateway web site: http://www.eopg.ca/eng/sdag.html
As always, if you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please contact Deanna at policy@actew.org.
New Federal Investments as Ontario negotiates a Labour Market Agreement
Kevin French, Assistant Deputy Minister of MTCU, is leading negotiations with the government of Canada to sign a Labour Market Agreement (LMA), which would transfer new funding Ontario for labour market training initiatives (read ACTEW’s blog of the 2007 federal budget announcement). The LMA is in fact replacing the Labour Market Partnership Agreement (LMPA), and two investment priorities have been earmarked for the money:
1) non-EI-eligible clients
2) low skill workers
It was confirmed at the meeting that these priorities mean that funding will be able to support Ontarians who do not currently qualify for EI, as well as Ontarians that are under-employed and/or precariously employed.
There was no mention of Ontario’s share of the $500 million annually promised across Canada, but they do expect the agreement in place for the money to start to flow in 2008/09 fiscal year.
Program Design Update
The External Service Delivery Reference Group on Program Design – Employment had an intensive planning session in January to determine guiding principles and provide feedback on the proposed employment services delivery model. Here are just a few of the key components of the new integrated system (targeted to be implemented in April 2009):
- There are three “components’ of the integrated employment services: Support for Independent Job Search, Employment Placement, Matching and Incentives, Job Maintenance, Sustainability and Advancement.
- Deliverers of service will determine which component, or combination of components will achieve the best results based on the individual’s needs, the local labour market environment and the program’s strategic goals/policy objectives.
- Employment service functions, intensities and incentives enable deliverers to tailor services to individual, employers and community circumstances and needs to achieve labour market attachment outcomes.
- Depending on community demographics, the services could include “specialization” of delivery and access – i.e. services targeted to immigrants, persons with disabilities, older workers, youth, and specialization of components such as placement and matching.
- Enables communities to augment components of services to reflect and respond to local circumstances and unique community demographics or economic situations. Based on the need, services may include some or all components of the employment service model, and may add unique components and features.
- EI status is no longer an eligibility requirement for access to employment services. However, there will have to be the capacity to record and track EI status to meet LMDA reporting requirements and to report expenditures against the appropriate account.
A revised document will be released at the end of January. ACTEW is planning a members’ meeting for mid-February to review these discussions in detail with our representative Honey Crossley (Working Skills Centre) who sits on this external stakeholder advisory group. ACTEW members will receive information about this session shortly.
Upcoming focus groups on Service Delivery Framework
MTCU has completed the Jurisdictional Review, and is fine-tuning a discussion paper on the current Service Delivery Framework. Coordinated by the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres (OAYEC), MTCU will be holding a series of focus groups and inviting written submissions at the end of February. ACTEW members will have an opportunity to attend these focus groups around the province. Stay tuned for more information.
Materials from the January 18 meeting will be placed on the Employment Ontario Partners’ Gateway web site: http://www.eopg.ca/eng/sdag.html
As always, if you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please contact Deanna at policy@actew.org.
Labels: LMDA, LMPA, Meetings_and_Events, MTCU_Updates
