You can find JOBS in Prince George

The Government of Canada Helps Workers in Prince George Gain the Skills They Need to Find Jobs

PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 18, 2007) - The Honourable Jay Hill, Secretary of State and Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River, on behalf of the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, today announced funding for a local labour market project. This funding will be used for research-based activities to develop a labour market recruitment and retention strategy for Prince George.

"The Government of Canada is committed to creating the best educated, most skilled, and most flexible work force in the world," said MP Hill. "This investment will help strengthen the local economy. Initiatives Prince George and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce will develop a plan to recruit and retain skilled workers to deal with the labour shortage in this area."

The Government is providing $240,532 in funding for this skilled labour recruitment and retention program, in partnership with Initiatives Prince George and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. The program will concentrate on ways to complement existing recruitment and retention activities of local organizations, while providing new and enhanced resources to promote career and lifestyle opportunities in Prince George to skilled workers from throughout Canada and internationally.

"The funding will go a long way to ensuring Prince George is first and foremost in the minds of skilled workers looking to relocate," said Gerry Offet, president of Initiatives Prince George. "With the support of the Government of Canada, we will have a multifaceted recruitment and retention program that promotes the career opportunities and the quality of life available in Prince George."

"Over the past five years, Prince George businesses, through the Chamber's Living and Working Committee, have been charting the growing competition for skilled employees," said Garth Frizzell, president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. "Our economy is charging full force now, and it's time to put tools out for our community to get and keep the workers they need."

The Government of Canada provides funding under the Labour Market Partnerships program to encourage, support, and facilitate labour force adjustments and human resource planning activities that are in the public interest. For more information on Labour Market Partnerships, please visit the Web site at www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/epb/sid/cia/grants/llmp/desc_llmp.shtml.

Service Canada brings Government of Canada services and benefits together in a single delivery network. It provides Canadians with one-stop service they can access however they choose-by phone at 1 800 O-Canada, on the Internet at servicecanada.gc.ca, or in person at Service Canada Centres across the country.

This news release is available in alternative formats on request. Call 1-800-788-8282 on a touch-tone phone or through a teletypewriter (TTY).

BACKGROUNDER

Labour Market Partnerships

The Government of Canada uses the Labour Market Partnerships (LMP) program to encourage, support, and facilitate labour force adjustments and human resource planning activities that are in the public interest. The LMP program provides funding to encourage and support employers, employee-employer associations, and communities in developing and implementing strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments and meeting human resource requirements. The LMP program addresses labour market issues through partnerships.

The LMP program is one of the employment programs of the Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSM). As a support measure for organizations, the LMP program does not provide direct financial assistance to insured participants, individuals who are unemployed, or individuals who are threatened by imminent job loss.

Key characteristics of the program are as follows:

- Activities must focus on a labour market issue and be assessed as likely to have a positive impact on the labour market.

- Activities must involve partnerships.

- Activities must involve developing or implementing strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments and/or for meeting human resource requirements.

- LMP assistance must be finite in nature. Although a series of agreements may be signed with the same sponsor, each agreement must state specific project outcomes and time frames, and must not be reliant on a future agreement for success.

- LMP activities should affect people who are either in the labour market or about to enter it (i.e., those aged 15 and older).

The LMP program may also support activities related to human resource planning and labour force adjustment. Such activities may include related research, the development of human resource strategies, the promotion of beneficial human resource and adjustment practices (best practices), the co-ordination of community-based approaches to addressing labour market issues, short-term adjustment services for workers facing lay-off, and the development of economic (employment) development plans and community marketing plans.

Eligible recipients include businesses, federal Crown corporations and comparable provincial/territorial Crown corporations, organizations, individuals, public health and educational institutions, municipal governments, and band/tribal councils.