NLWIC has created a new web page on our website dedicated to the Regional Workforce Development Committees. It's the go-to spot for news and updates about the Committees and Labour Market Information (LMI) and soon will house 10 new NL LMI Infographics!

The Regional Workforce Development Committees have been busy since the launch of the project in November 2021 developing action plans to address workforce development needs specific to regions across the province.

The implementation of Regional Workforce Development Committees in ten regions across Newfoundland and Labrador is one of NLWIC's mandated activities. A concurrent research project funded by the Future Skills Centre will test and evaluate the design, setup and operations of these Regional Workforce Development Committees as a new model of workforce development in NL during this first year.

“We’re proud that NLWIC has contributed to CNA’s recognition in Canada's Top 50 Research Colleges, for the second year in a row, for its work in applied research and innovation that contributes to the health, well-being and prosperity of the province.

Our NL Workforce Innovators are community-based applied researchers driving innovation in research development in this province. Seven of the 20 NLWIC-funded research projects are completed to date. Through our applied research projects and other research collaborations, NLWIC will continue to innovate workforce and workplace development in our province to address labour shortages and the need for a diverse, inclusive and high-performing workforce now and into the future.”

-Sharon McLennon, Director NL Workforce Innovation Centre

The Newfoundland and Labrador minimum wage is an important decision made by the Provincial Government, one that impacts tens of thousands of employees, employers, and the overall economy in the province. Every two years, the Provincial Government is legislated to conduct a review of the current minimum wage rate, as well as the adjustment process.

As part of the review process, the independent Minimum Wage Review Committee is inviting stakeholders and members of the public to provide input into the review and inform the recommendations that will be made to the Provincial Government about the minimum wage rate and adjustment process going forward.

The questionnaire will be available until March 18, 2022 and should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

In keeping with Employment and Social Development Canada’s commitment to work with Indigenous peoples and communities to improve access to targeted skills development opportunities, we are pleased to announce the opening of a call for proposals (CFP) for the Skills and Partnership Fund (SPF). The SPF is a long-standing Indigenous labour market program that funds partnerships between Indigenous organizations and employers. Through targeted projects, this program equips Indigenous people with the skills needed for specific jobs.

This CFP follows national engagement with nearly 200 organizations between January and July 2021 to inform the future of the SPF. The results and feedback from the engagement are informing this process, and the future of the program. What we learned will help increase Indigenous participation in priority sectors and make the program more responsive to a changing economy.

With an ongoing investment of $50 million per year, the CFP seeks to fund projects in the following priority sectors:

Projects targeting other sectors that meet local priorities will also be considered depending on funding availability.

This CFP is open to Indigenous organizations and seeks projects focused on improving employment outcomes. The deadline for submitting applications is May 9, 2022.

Applicant organizations must be Indigenous, however partnerships are a core element of the SPF. Applicants are required to identify and engage with partners that will play an active role in the development and delivery of projects. Potential partners may include but are not limited to industry organizations, provincial or territorial governments, and colleges and training institutions.

We encourage Indigenous organizations that are interested in receiving federal funding to consult the applicant guide. The guide provides more information on eligibility and the steps to submit a proposal online, by email or by mail.

1461 organizations across Canada are participating in the 50 - 30 Challenge (so far)!

The 50 – 30 Challenge is an initiative between the Government of Canada, business and diversity organizations. The goal of the program is to challenge Canadian organizations to increase the representation and inclusion of diverse groups within their workplace, while highlighting the benefits of giving all Canadians a seat at the table.

Find out more about how this challenge will act as a framework to accelerate diversity actions already taking place in many Canadian organizations and encourage other Canadian organizations in adopting practices to improve equity.

There are many opportunities for Atlantic Indigenous businesses and communities to benefit from and contribute to the region’s long-term economic growth, as the recovery from COVID-19 continues. For these opportunities to be fully realized, there needs to be a focus on education and training, access to capital, and partnerships.

This report is the first in a series focused on how Indigenous businesses and communities can contribute to and benefit from long-term economic growth in the Atlantic region. It sets the stage by summarizing the effects of COVID-19 on Indigenous communities and businesses and discusses the key drivers affecting the region's economy and their potential implications. It also articulates the unique challenges facing Indigenous communities and businesses and the contributions they can offer to the rest of the Atlantic region.

Brookfield Institute New Report Canada's Moonshot: Solving grand challenges through transformational innovation.

Canadian innovation has a vital role to play in tackling our world’s most pressing challenges. Yet, despite producing world-leading research, our current innovation policy framework does not support the conditions needed to catalyze breakthrough inventions and bridge them through the transformational innovation process—commercialization, scale, widespread adoption, and global export.

This report seeks to better understand how Canada can best use its innovation policy toolkit to intentionally direct, support, and fund innovation that solves the big challenges we face as a society—from COVID-19 to climate change—​​and along the way, solidify our place in the global economy as a leader in innovation.

The 2021 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration and the Final Report on the 2021 Consultations on Immigration Levels and Responsive Economic Immigration have now been published.

You can also consult the Supplementary Information for the 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan and the infographic on immigration and Canada’s economic recovery. While all engagement activities were suspended due to the 2021 federal election, they were able to gather information from the online consultation survey and online engagement platform to inform these final reports.

One in five Canadian employees works at a job that’s vulnerable to automation. The clean economy is a rapid-growth sector that needs workers. Is there a way to solve for both?

Employees working high-risk, low-mobility (HRLM) jobs have few options to transition into lower-risk occupations without undergoing retraining.

Transitioning workers to the clean (or green) economy addresses multiple labour market challenges. It’s also timely, given the Canadian government’s focus on climate change and integrating clean technologies to meet global targets.

When you are the one leading a team, department, or company-wide meeting, you have the opportunity to make it a valuable and productive meeting that you always wanted to attend as an employee. To help you do so, steal these ideas and templates when hosting staff meetings.

The innovative and highly successful Essential Skills for Atlantic Fisheries (ESAF) project has launched a website to share helpful resources and best practices developed through the project. The new ESAF website celebrates the success of the project by sharing the resulting sustainable and replicable model which can be adapted for other industries.

ESAF was a pan-Atlantic project led by the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick (LCNB) in partnership with Literacy Nova Scotia (LNS), the Newfoundland and Labrador Laubach Literacy Council (NLLLC), and the PEI Literacy Alliance (PEILA). The ESAF project launched in 2018 to address significant labour market shortages by connecting low-income unemployed individuals to available jobs in the multi-billion-dollar fisheries sector.

In partnership with Municipalities NL, Equal Voice NL has created a International Women’s Day Toolkit for Community Celebration! In this toolkit, you will find out information about this year’s IWD theme #BreakTheBias, as well as 8 different kinds of activities that you can put off in your community!

Many of these activities can be done in multiple settings – online, in-person, or hybrid. Many of these activities are easy to organize and scalable. Additionally, Equal Voice NL provides a great deal of resources and advice to draw from in the appendices of the toolkit, to make planning easy.

CICan’s Annual Conference is the largest event of its kind in Canada! It fosters connections between post-secondary institutions from across the country and around the world. In 2022 these connections will focus on navigating anew in this fast forward future.

Bonus: NLWIC will be presenting during a live-session panel on Accelerating Economic Growth and Prosperity in Newfoundland and Labrador. Stay tuned for more details!

The NL Workforce Innovation Centre (NLWIC) has a provincial mandate to provide a coordinated, central point of access to engage all labour market stakeholders about challenges, opportunities and best practices in workforce development. 

The Centre’s goal is to promote and support the research, testing and sharing of ideas and models of innovation in workforce development that will positively impact employability, employment and entrepreneurship within the province’s labour market and particularly underrepresented groups. Funding for NLWIC is provided by the Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills (IPGS) under the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Market Development Agreement.

©NL Workforce Innovation Centre 2022