10th Annual General Meeting of the Toronto Traning Board

The Toronto Training Board's 10th Annual General Meeting was held on September 25th, 2008. One of our guest speakers, Randy McLean, (Manager, City of Toronto, Economic Development) gave a snapshot of the City 's "Agenda for Prosperity", an achievable vision for growing the city’s long-term prosperity. Franz Hartman, ( Executive Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance) talked about finding solutions to Toronto's urban environmental problems by creating green jobs. Their remarks led to a lively debate. New members joined the TTB Board of Directors. The TTB looks forward to another year serving our community.

Labour Market News

Labour Force Survey

The Daily
Statistics Canada
October 5, 2008

Following two months of declines, Ontario's employment level was up 14,000 in August, as large full-time gains were partially offset by part-time losses. The unemployment rate edged down to 6.3% in August. So far in 2008, employment in Ontario has increased by 0.8%, all in part time. Increases in construction and several service industries were diminished by declines in information, culture and recreation; manufacturing and trade over the year.

Ten Years Since Amalgamation...How Is Toronto Doing? Toronto's Vital Signs Report 2008 Released

Toronto Community Foundation
October 7, 2008

The Toronto Community Foundation released its 2008 Toronto Vital Signs report on October 7th. Toronto's Vital Signs was created to provide an integrated snapshot of the vitality of our city. This annual Report looks at key indicators in 11 specific areas ranging from Work Opportunities and Housing Costs to the city's record on Environment, Safety, Learning, Getting Around, Belonging, Getting Started in Toronto and Gap between Rich and Poor. The 2008 report looks specifically at the 10 year trends and reveals a city with considerable strengths, but struggling to ensure that its successes benefit all citizens. Has it become a city of "Haves" and "Have Nots"?

Construction Sector Contracts

City of Toronto
News Release
September 3, 2008

Cooling economic activity in both the residential and non-residential sectors has seen building permits plunge dramatically, by 13.5 per cent nationally to $5.6 billion in August from a month earlier, according to Statistics Canada data released yesterday. The owner of the oldest and one of the busiest stucco companies in the Greater Toronto Area says that you can really tell the industry is slowing down.In the key Toronto market, residential and non-residential components were down by 11 per cent to just over a billion dollars.

Immigrants

Canada's Immigration Policy Hurting Newcomers, Economy, Says Researcher

Canada's immigration policy is too focused on short term labour market needs and therefore shortchanges both new Canadians and the country's longer term economic development to recent research. The recent downturn in Canada's manufacturing sector has resulted in lower earnings for more recent immigrants compared with immigrants who arrived in earlier waves. Economic class immigrants are more educated than Canadian-born citizens (91% of them have some post-secondary schooling), but are still underemployed and make less money than other Canadians.

Youth

Program Helps At-Risk Youth In High School And Beyond

Inside Toronto
Louise Brown
September 25, 2008

Home Run Scholars program was launched by the Jays Care Foundation to help kids stay in high school until graduation and help them make the move to a post-secondary education. The initiative is a four-year commitment of $400,000 to provide scholarship and support to ensure students graduate from high school and have funds available for post-secondary education with the goal of eliminating the high-school dropout rate and improving opportunities for at-risk youth to achieve a college, university or trade school education.

Women

Ontario's Gender Pay Gap Cheats Women Workers

Toronto Star
Mary Cornish
Fay Faraday
September 17, 2008

Ontario women earn on average 71 cents for every dollar men earn. The resulting 29 per cent gender pay gap means that women are effectively denied their fair pay from now until the end of the year while men get their full pay. Yet women's bills still need to be paid and their children supported. Employers, including governments, get the benefit of women's work without having to pay its full value. Ontario's pay gap hits women regardless of where they work, the size of their workplace or whether their work is full-time or part-time, contract or temporary. But some women suffer more than others. Racial minority women earn 36 per cent less than men and aboriginal women earn 54 per cent less. Women with disabilities earn much less than women and men without disabilities.

Education

Concurrent Teacher Education Program At The UoT Fast Tracks Students Into Teaching

Univeristy of Toronto
September, 2008

An exciting development is happening in teacher training that puts students on the express train to success. Undergraduates are getting on board the new concurrent teacher education program (CTEP), a unique offering at the University of Toronto for students who are passionate about a career in teaching.
Undergraduates are getting on board the new concurrent teacher education program (CTEP), a unique offering at the University of Toronto for students who are passionate about a career in teaching.

Other News

Self - Improvement Work Perks Peaking

Toronto Metro
September 24, 2008

Protecting your health and boosting financial security are benefits many would expect their employer to provide in today’s workplace. But a new study shows Canadians are starting to demand new benefits that support self-improvement and may be waving goodbye to outdated ones. The study, performed by the Canadian Payroll Association, placed taxable benefits in order of the percentage of Canadian companies that offer them. The study was the most extensive one of its kind, considering almost 40 common benefits shared by Canadians.

VOLUME 9
September 2008

The Anatomy Of The Canadian Job Market

TD Economics
Special report
October 7, 2008

Report Highlights
• Kudos to Canada for knocking out 87,000 new jobs in the first eight months of the year...
• ...but if construction is excluded from the tally, Canada is left with a mere 500 new jobs.
• 3 industries have been driving job growth this
year -- construction, food/accommodation, professional/ scientific -- and none appear to have staying power.
• Weaker labour market cycle in Canada does not equal American-style job losses.
• Part of slower job momentum is due to Alberta coming off the boil.

Time For A Vision Of Ontario's Economy

TD Economics
Special report
September 29, 2008

This report frames the key questions about where the Ontario economy will be in 2020. Will it continue to wither? Or, will Ontario manage to regain the kind of dominant
economic presence that bestowed abundant benefits to residents in past decades? Clearly, the objective has to be the latter. Even more importantly, what will it take to achieve such an objective? We believe that it will take bold policy action from the provincial government in concert with other governments and the private sector in nine key areas:
• Top quality labour force
• Effective integration of immigrants into the workforce
• World class infrastructure, including transit
• Reliable electricity system
• A leader in the environment
• Competitive tax system
• Enhanced trade
• Shift from dependence (welfare) to labour force participation
• Supportive federal policy

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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