Economic Development and the Skills Shortage in British

Columbia

Skills Challenge 2020

The British Columbia EconomicDevelopment Association isthe lead association of economicdevelopment practitioners,dedicated to providing services insupport of its members, theirprofessional development needs,activities, profile and economicdevelopment goals.

BCEDA

The BCEDA is comprised of 400 membersthat include:

• Communities• Associations• Government sectors & representatives• Consultants• Private Sector Real Estate/Development• Trusts• Partners (BC Hydro, Fortis, Wedler Engineering, etc)

• Business Retention and Expansion• Business Attraction• Tourism• Small Business and Entrepreneurship• Strategic Planning• Partnership Development• Workforce Development

Typical Economic Development Functions

• Workforce development has become of the most important ED issues because:• Knowledge has become the driving force of economic

growth• There is a lack of skilled labour • Demand is increasing for skilled labour• Critical demographic shifts• Policy changes (Federal and Provincial)

Workforce Development – The Economic Development Connection

• Workforce availability factors, especially in high skill areas drives business location, development, and expansion decisions

For Economic Development

To connect workforce and economic development issues communities must:• Combine/coordinate job creation and job placement activities

more tightly• Find ways to involve business sector• Make better use of labour market and other relevant

information (BR+E)

Community Economic Development

• Workforce development partnerships should focus on:• Serving needs of communities and existing businesses• Make better use of community assets and resources

(colleges and universities)• Improving community’s overall economic development

Economic Development

Prince George Economic Development &Workforce Expansion Program

Heather Oland, Chief Executive OfficerInitiatives Prince George

IPG’s Role In Recruitment• Increase local and regional work force capacity• Attracting new population growth to our city• Development and implementation of a comprehensive

population growth marketing campaign• Development and implementation of a city wide

recruitment plan• Organize IPG’s attendance with local employers at job fairs

across Canada• Develop marketing collaterals for use by local employers

Online Job Fairs

• Funding provided by Immigration Employment Council of BC – thank you!

• Designed to connect employers in Prince George with skilled new Canadians living in Metro Vancouver.

• Eliminate the costs associated with traditional job fairs.• Conduct strategic, targeted marketing in the Lower

Mainland

Online Job Fairs• The platform offered the following features:

– Pre-job fair resume submission option– Pre-scheduled interviews– Voice and text chat options– Navigation page which listed all of the employers– A virtual booth for each business

• Included a description of the company and a listing of jobs offered

– Prince George Information Page • Included information, web links, photos and videos

Online Job Fair Results• Online Job Fair 1 (June 2013)

– 1171 job seekers attended the job fair– 13 companies had booths at the job fair– 71.36% of job seekers were from Metro Vancouver

• Online Job Fair 2 (November 2013)– 1900 job seekers attended the job fair– 16 companies had booths at the job fair– 78% of job seekers were from Metro Vancouver

• 57% of all participants were new Canadians

• A large number of new hires in next six years will require a post-secondary education

• Most employers do not have a plan

• Local labour force unable to meet needs (47% do not have formal education)

Central Okanagan

• Formalize/maintain a formal group to oversee human resource issues in the region.

• Continue to develop and foster a means for employers to communicate their training needs to the training bodies

• New Economic Development Strategies• Targeted recruitment/attraction strategies.

Central Okanagan - Recommendations

• Annual labour market data collection• Develop a strategy to attract recent graduates of BC

post-secondary institutions• Increased basic skills training to prepare the

unemployed for skill upgrading• Develop strategies to assist the innovation and

emerging high technology industries in the Okanagan Region

Central Okanagan - Recommendations

• Proposing to complete a Labour Market Study. Activities to include:– Analysis of human resource supply and demand in the region – Identification of trends and emerging issues – Forecast of expected human resource supply and demand – Identification of skills gaps, training requirements and barriers to hiring and retaining – appropriate human resources (including specific population groups); and, – Development of a human resource plan to address the identified labour market issues.

Kamloops

• Live Here Work There• BC BusinessCounts

Other examples

• Workforce development training will continue to play a critical role well into the future because the economy will continue to:• Experience major changes• Have increasing need for skilled labour

Conclusion

• Workforce development training is a partnership effort that needs the active involvement and leadership of:• Business• Local government• Local EDO• Educational system

Conclusion

To help overcome Skill Shortages we need to:• Focus on both short and long term, respond to local

conditions• Be flexible and adaptable to changing economic

conditions

Conclusion

Together we must:• Establish local based workforce

development boards• Adopt a shared vision • Organize and Collaborate with

Partners in Education and Business

Conclusion

Economic Developers recognize that long-term economic success in a community depends on

their ability to create, attract and retain an educated and skilled workforce.

BCEDA

Contact:

Dale Wheeldondwheeldon@bceda.ca

BCEDA