OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 23
NeWS
OsPe recommendations echoed
in latest Ontario Chamber of
Commerce labour market report
As the advocacy body for the province's engineers and engineering degree-holders,
OSPE is an active member of various consortia, including the Construction &
Design Alliance of Ontario (CDAO), the Residential & Civil Construction Alliance
of Ontario (RCCAO), the Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA), and
the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC).
These strategic partnerships help the Society extend its advocacy reach, ensuring
that engineers' economic interests and the technical, evidence-based perspectives
they hold are included in broader policy discussions.
Given OSPE's extensive work on the engineering labour market, the Society was
pleased to provide policy expertise for the OCC's latest report, Talent in Transition:
Addressing the Skills Mismatch in Ontario. OSPE participated in the OCC's Skills and
Workforce Development Advisory Council, as well as a half-day consultation with
representatives from government, industry, and various advocacy bodies to discuss
critical issues affecting workforce development in Ontario.
Released on June 20, 2017, the OCC's report focused on the skills mismatch,
which the Conference Board of Canada estimates to cost the provincial economy
$24 billion in forgone GDP. The report provides ten recommendations to better
align the skills acquired by Ontarians with those required by employers.
As OSPE identified in various recent policy submissions, work-integrated learning
(WIL) opportunities are key to closing the skills gap.
OSPE pointed out in its analysis of the 2017 federal and provincial budgets that
50,000 new WIL placements will be developed for high school and post-secondary
students in the coming five years.
However, the OCC's latest report notes that the province will need to create
significantly more WIL opportunities to meet the recommendation set by the
Premier's Highly Skilled Workforce Expert Panel, namely that every student
in Ontario complete at least one experiential learning opportunity by the end
of secondary school, and at least one by the time they graduate from their postsecondary program. As of 2015-2016, there were nearly 700,000 high school, college,
and university students in Ontario.
In the report, the OCC concurs with OSPE's view that WIL opportunities take
many forms - ranging from co-ops to internships to work placements - and achieving
the above target necessitates an inclusive definition of experiential learning.
The OCC also echoed OSPE's recommendation to the Premier's Expert Panel,
specifically the importance of raising awareness amongst employers and the
business community of existing incentives like the Government of Ontario's CoOperative Education Tax Credit, as well as wage subsidy programs available to
employers through the federal government that off-set the costs of providing WIL
opportunities. OCC's consultations further confirmed OSPE's view that employer
awareness of these programs is limited, meaning resolving this issue could lead
to greater employer participation within experiential learning programs. Raising
awareness about the reputability of these funding programs could also foster a
climate of greater certainty among industry employers that funding will be reliably
matched, ultimately leading companies
to hire more engineering students and
graduates.
The OCC explains that small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),
which comprise 98% of total businesses
in Ontario, tend to have limited
participation in experiential learning
programs because of limited human
resources capacity. "Policymakers and
the provincial government need to break
down the barriers facing employers
when it comes to developing WIL
opportunities for Ontario's engineering
students and graduates," says OSPE
President and Chair Jonathan Hack,
P.Eng.
OSPE's May 2017 Bi-Annual General
Assembly "Classroom to Career"
panel discussion, brought together
representatives from government,
industry and academia to discuss
some of these very challenges facing
engineering employers when it comes
to providing WIL opportunities. The
panelists explored specific action items
for overcoming these barriers, as well
as topics like the changing nature of
work, jobs of the future and the skills
engineering students need to succeed.
OSPE CEO Sandro Perruzza adds,
"OSPE is widely recognized as a
collaborator, relationship-builder, and
thought leader on numerous policy files
in Ontario. We will continue to work
collaboratively with key stakeholders
like the OCC and look forward to their
upcoming analysis on how disruptive
and transformative technology is
impacting the workforce."
September 2017
The VOICe
23
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - September 2017
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - Cover1
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - Cover2
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 3
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 4
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 5
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 6
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 7
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 8
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 9
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OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 11
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OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 21
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OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 31
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OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 38
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - Cover3
OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - Cover4
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