Supply Meets Demand

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Supply Meets Demand
Vancouver, BC May 10-11, 2006
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BC Aboriginal Workforce Strategy
John Webster ACCESS Gail Murray RBC
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WELCOME
Kelly Lendsay President and CEO Aboriginal Human
Resource Development Council of Canada
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Opening Addresses
Bill Ross Service Canada Arlene Paton Ministry
of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
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Peter Legge Canada Wide Magazines and
Communications Ltd.
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Industry Outlook Supply Demand Issues
Opportunities
Ken Peacock BC Business Council
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AHRDS ARHDA Outlook Overview of BC Aboriginal
Human Resource Development Agreement Holders
Brian Pelletier, ASEP Karin Hunt, PGNAETA Audrey
Sam, NENAS
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Successful Public / Private Sector / Aboriginal
Engagement Models
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Panel

• Nadine Hoehne
• BC Aboriginal Workforce Strategy
• Chief Kim Baird
• Tsawwassen
• Jim Cox
• VanAsep
• Darcy Castaneda and Barbara Lawson
• Bladerunners
• Marion Eunson
• IMPACT
• Increasing Meaningful Partnerships for Aboriginal
  Capacity in the Trades

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Roundtable Connections Industry Focus Groups
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Rooms

• Resource

• Dundarave Room

• Point Grey Room

• Service

• Kitsilano Room

• Public Sector

• Construction

• Ballroom

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The Conversation

• Share ideas about how to connect supply and
  demand in each industry

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Debrief

• What stands out for you?
• What surprised you?
• How will this help you make connections?

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Chief Clarence Louie
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Supply Meets Demand
Vancouver, BC May 10-11, 2006
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Highlights Roundtable Discussions
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Resource

• Presentations
• BC Mining Association Natural Resources Canada
• Oil Gas Duke Energy
• Successes
• Northern Opportunities Program
• Apprenticeship credits at the high school level
• Multiple partner MOUs between FNs, labour and
  companies to lay ground work to create more jobs
  for Aboriginal workers
• Communication programs to general public to
  encourage Aboriginal youth to enter the trades
• Métis pilot project in the oil gas 22
  successfully completed pilot training (on-site)
• Challenges
• Need cultural awareness
• Systemic racism
• Trade branding problem
• Union is a barrier

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Resource

• Challenges
• Lots of jobs in mining but Aboriginal
  participation is low because the mining sector is
  in the beginning stages of develolping HR
  strategies for increased Abroginal particaption
  in real, long-term jobs
• Disconnect between high employment in Aborginal
  northern communitites and the level of job
  opporuntities in the sector
• Levels of education do not match job requirements
• Deterrent is that some Aboriginal people do not
  look favourably on these jobs e.g. camps, no
  family support
• AHRDA capacity is limited makes partnering with
  business a challenge
• Solutions
• Need to go to youth and parents to influence
  youth to consider trades as a viable career path
• TOEWS assessment tool is valuable means to assess
  the real levels of Aboriginal skill levels
• Need to ready workplaces (all levels), supply
  channels for increased Aboriginal retention
  embed directly into contracts
• Increase understanding in the Aboriginal
  community about the corporate culture

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Service

• Large corporations have resources to attract
  Aboriginal workers
• AHRDAs should focus efforts on providing service
  to the smaller companies
• Aboriginal organizations are competing for the
  same Aboriginal worker
• Focus on skill development that builds skills
  needed by employers
• Both sides employers and Aboriginal people
  need to increase their knowledge about the other
• Need to work together to retain Aboriginal
  workers

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Public Sector

• Primary focus on health care
• 900 different job descriptions for over 16,000
  jobs
• Range from low to high skill includes trades
• Perfect Storm
• Attrition of workers (retirement) and growth of
  health sector
• Aboriginal communitys response
• Not producing the people with academic
  qualifications to successfully compete
• Their clients are multi-barriered and have
  employment barriers due to social issues
  transportation, childcare
• AHRDAs / Aboriginal community dont know enough
  about the opportunities in health care
• Solutions
• Employers
• Increasing awareness promotion of the jobs
  employment opportunities through single window to
  Aboriginal service providers

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Public Sector

• Solutions
• Employers
• Focus on retention
• Employers share employment recruitment process
  and hiring criteria with AHRDAs
• Enables better referrals
• Need to reach out directly to Aboriginal
  communities
• Health care sector needs to promote themselves to
  the Aboriginal community better, much like the
  Ironworkers Project
• AHRDAs
• Need to develop more meaningful relationships and
  partnerships with employers
• Need to influence Aboriginal youth early in the
  education process to path them to the health care
  industry
• need math and science
• Bring together all the stakeholders in health
  care sector Aboriginal community, labour,
  leaders - in a forum to work out how to move
  forward strategically

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Construction

• Take the training to the communities
• Labour / union perspective
• Unions are an issue for Aboriginal community
• Need to understand more about unions and their
  processes
• Unions need to visit communities
• Need to include them in the dialogue throughout
• Support employing locally before immigration
• Success Manitoba Floodway Project Labour
  agreement
• Aboriginal / labour partnership to access
  contracts and employment on the floodwater
  project
• Assessment
• Not done well, causes drop outs from
  apprenticeship system - TOEWS
• Some need essential skills, including drivers
  license
• Need better preparation before entering the
  trades math upgrading

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Construction

• Department of National Defence
• Needs 36 apprentices
• Like to create a partnership to meet the need
• Build bridges
• Both ways
• Need to get everyone together
• Aboriginal mentors who are already employed in
  the industry have proven effective means to
  promoting trades in their community
• Need ongoing support and encouragement throughout
  the apprenticeship process
• Bring job opportunities directly to the
  Aboriginal community

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Next Steps

• Now need to craft a path forward
• This Forum is a beginning
• Need to make commitments to move forward to
  aggressively increase Aboriginal participation in
  trades
• Create jobs

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Open Discussion Apprenticeship
Ron Johnston, Vancouver Community College Brian
Clewes, ITA Clarence Nyce, Skeena AHRDA
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Guest Speaker Hon. Tom Christensen Minister of
Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
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Aboriginal Trades People Real Life Experience
Danny Mellish Dobson Abrahams Carey Speck
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Focus Group Discussions Regional Perspective
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Rooms

• Northern BC

• Point Grey Room

• Central/Southern Interior

• Kitsilano Room

• Ballroom

• Lower Mainland/ Sunshine Coast

• Vancouver Island / Central Coast

• Dundarave Room

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The Conversation

• Seek to understand the unique supply demand
  challenge in each geographical region
• Find opportunities to partner and connect
• Craft next steps
• Commitments to advance the agenda in that region

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Kelly Lendsay President and CEO Aboriginal Human
Resource Development Council of Canada
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Summary Bridging Supply Demand
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The Dialogue

• Better understand the need to bridge demand and
  supply
• Signing
• BCAWS Interior Health Authority
• Peter Legge
• Challenged us to review our highway of life to
  ensure we can answer the question
• What have you done with the talent you were
  given?

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Dialogue

• Industry Outlook
• Good news story
• BC economy is growing
• Overview of AHRDs and AHRDAs
• Devolved employment training services to
  Aboriginal clients to local AHRDAs

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Dialogue

• Showcased successful engagement models
• Good news stories
• VanAsep
• BC Aboriginal Workforce Strategy
• Bladerunners
• IMPACT
• Models that are already finding ways and filling
  gaps to getting employment for Aboriginal people

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Dialogue

• Roundtable conversations
• Construction
• Service Sector
• Public Sector
• Resources
• Demand Side
• Increased our collective understanding of the
  challenges and opportunities in these sectors
• Supply Side
• Increased our understanding of the services of
  AHRDAs and their challenges to engaging with
  corporate BC

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Dialogue

• Chief Clarence Louie
• Challenged us to make economic development a
  priority in everything we do
• Creating / finding jobs for every Aboriginal
  person is our highest / greatest responsibility
• Reception
• Networking and getting to know each other better

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Dialogue

• Apprenticeship
• Community College System
• Industry Training Authority
• Skeena
• Learned how to count the Clarence Nyce way
• Honourable Tom Christensen
• Supports BCAWS
• Encourages the work started here to continue
  until every Aboriginal British Columbian shares
  in the wealth of the BC growing economy

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Dialogue

• Real Life stories
• Reinforced WHY we do this work
• Commitments
• Lower Mainland / Sunshine Coast
• Set up a database whos who for both Supply
  and Demand side so they can connect
• Sto-lo nation
• Hold meeting with their local employers and have
  FN representatives introduce themselves so they
  can build partnerships

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Dialogue

• Commitments
• Northern BC
• Need event / mechanism to showcase AHRDAs to the
  employers
• Mining will increase percentage of Aboriginal
  people participating in the industry
• AHRDAs will help summer students find housing /
  accommodation to facilitate employment
• Vancouver Island / Central Coast
• Organize regional forum in Vancouver to bring
  together Aboriginal organizations (e.g. AHRDAs),
  industry, education institutions, community
  advocates to develop a path forward strategy to
  work together more effectively
• Develop a database so Aboriginal community,
  employers, education, government can better share
  information and resources

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Dialogue

• Commitments
• Central / Southern Interior / Southeast Interior
• Confirm Northern request showcase AHRDAs
• AHRDA
• Go back to their communities and talk to our
  leaders / employment workers about what is
  realistic / doable in continuing the work started
  here
• Employer
• Follow-up with each of the AHRDAs in the region
• Pass on the information shared here with their
  local managers

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A Beginning

• Vision for the forum
• To create better understanding of the challenges
  and opportunities on the other side
• To BEGIN enhanced engagement between business and
  Aboriginal community
• Hope you continue this IMPORTANT work

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Supply Meets Demand
Please fill in the EVALUTION FORM and leave it on
the table
Vancouver May 10-11, 2006
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Supply Meets Demand
THANK YOU
Vancouver May 10-11, 2006
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Rooms

• Resource

• Dundarave Room

• Point Grey Room

• Service

• Kitsilano Room

• Public Sector

• Construction

• Ballroom