AGM - Our Annual General Meeting will be on September 25th. Please hold the date, details will be announced shortly.

The TTB Board of Directors held a strategic planning session on May 30-31st at the Gibraltar Point Retreat Centre, which is part of Artscape, on Toronto Island. It was an excellent session and the TTB hopes to work with the City on the "Agenda for Prosperity". Kudos to the staff at Gibraltar Point for their care and hospitality.

Labour Market News

Employment Remains Unchanged in May

Labour Force Survey
Statistics Canada
June 6, 2008

Following two months of small increases, employment was unchanged in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 6.1%. Women aged 25 and over entered the labour market in large numbers in May. Employment grew by 35,000 for this group, while it was unchanged for men of the same age and declined for youth. Manufacturing employment rose in May in Ontario and Quebec. Employment across the country in this industry has trended downward since November 2002, with losses of 344,000 over this period.

McGuinty Government Helps Workers Retrain For New Jobs

Government of Ontario
News Release
June 5, 2008

Ontarians now have a new way to train for a second career. The new Second Career program helps workers who have been laid off and unemployed within the last year to find new careers. Workers can learn to transfer their skills to other in-demand fields, such as health care and other skilled occupations. Second Career also assists workers with tuition, books, living expenses and other costs toward retraining. Training can take anywhere from six months to two years. An additional year will be available when academic upgrading is needed.

Experts Set Priorities To Address Skills Shortage

Canada News Wire
May 21, 2008

More than 300 representatives from business, education, labour and government met in Toronto to prioritize recommendations to help governments develop comprehensive strategies to address the workforce shortage challenge. The strategy session was a detailed follow-up to province wide consultations from February and March. At the strategy session, participants considered issues such as employment challenges for under-represented groups, modernizing the education system, and strengthening public awareness of different career opportunities. The workforce shortage coalition's final report to governments will be based on feedback from more than 700 individuals and businesses who took part in 10 consultations across the province over the past six months. The Local Board Network participates in these consultations.

Immigrants

Immigrants Face Higher Unemployment

Toronto Star
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
May 14, 2008

A chorus of voices are demanding the government help immigrants "hit the ground running" after a comprehensive new study showed the gap in unemployment between newcomers and Canadian-born workers is getting worse. Statistics Canada recently reported employment increases in 2007 did not improve conditions for recent immigrants. The situation is worse in 2007 than in 2006, particularly in the GTA. In Ontario the unemployment rate for immigrants rose slightly to 6.8 per cent in 2007 while the rate for Canadian-born workers stayed the same at 4.4 per cent. For immigrants who've arrived in in Toronto the rate is 12.7%.

Youth

Toronto Youth Benefit From TD Waterhouse Investment In The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

Canada News Wire
June 5 , 2008

TD Waterhouse's Investing in Youth initiative has helped young Torontonians gain access to The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Young Canadians Challenge. The TD Waterhouse initiative provides funding for the employment of Field Officers who introduce the Award to communities as well as engage and offer support to participants. Over the past three years TD Waterhouse has pledged $700,000 to take the Investing in Youth initiative to nine Canadian cities to ensure inner-city and disadvantaged youth are able to participate. This initiative helps Canadian youth in developing key life skills and experiences while fostering their personal growth and achievement.

Women

Passionate Advocates

YWCA Toronto
Parul Pandya
June 5, 2008

On June 3, 2008 the YWCA presented its 28th-annual Women of Distinction Awards. Among this year's honorees are queers Zahra Dhanani, who will be recognized for her contributions to social change, and Fran Odette, who will be recognized for her
contributions to access and equity. Dhanani is particularly interested in advancing the rights of women of colour and aboriginal women. Odette has spent two decades working to improve the lives of women with disabilities through her professional and volunteer work.

Other News

Manufacturing Jobs Worth Weight In Gold To Wider Economy

The Canadian Press
June 5, 2008

The contrasting reality of a commodities bubble and manufacturing bust has more than turned Canada into a land of two distinct economies. We may experience a downturn if current trends continue, say economists and industry analysts. Jobs in manufacturing have a greater economic impact in that they "create" other jobs, some say as much as 7.5 a piece. That means for every factory job lost, it will cost the economy at least another seven in sectors that supported the output or lived off the wealth it generated. As well, manufacturing jobs tend to be skilled and well-paying, about 25 per cent higher than the national average.

Canadian Companies Using Creative Techniques To Attract Top IT Talent

ITbusiness.ca
Kavita Gosyne
May 15, 2008

In today's fiercely competitive hiring environment, Canadian companies are coming up with creative strategies to attract and keep the best IT talent. Whether it's incenting  staff to poach skilled friends currently working for competitors, or offering telework facilities, businesses are doing whatever it takes to attract highly skilled professionals. “Organizations are feeling the pinch. The market today resembles what it was two years before the dot-com bust", says CEO at CareerDoor Inc., a Toronto-based firm that helps employers identify and recruit hi-tech professionals. However, for prospective recruiters, several factors are converging to make the situation very challenging. These include: the shortage of IT graduates and an employment rate that's at a 30-year low.

VOLUME 5
May 2008

A Decade-Long Look At Registered Apprentices

This study examines the completion and discontinuation trends in apprenticeship programs in Canada for the 1993 cohort of apprentices and compares the results with those for the 1992 cohort. The purpose is to provide indicators of success that will ensure that apprenticeship programs continue to meet the demand for skilled workers in Canada. The study is based on longitudinal data created from the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS).

The TTB- Email Bulletin is an electronic newsletter providing updates on TTB activities and links to training and labour market information in the City of Toronto. The TTB- Email Bulletin is compiled by Enriketa Dushi and brought to you by the Toronto Training Board at: http://www.ttb.on.ca

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