April Meeting of SDAG: MTCU Transformation continues

ACTEW attended the April 17 Employment Ontario Service Delivery Advisory Group meeting. Kevin French, Assistant Deputy Minister of MTCU, provided an update on the Employment Ontario transformation process. Susan Underhill reviewed the outcomes of the Integrated Service Delivery Focus Groups, which took place in February and March. Sue Forrester presented on the now-complete transformation project, Employment Service Design. Kevin also expanded on the Province's investments in training through the recently announced Skills to Jobs Action Plan and responded to SDAG members' related questions. The next meeting of the SDAG is June 19.
>more

Provincial Budget: Skills to Jobs Action Plan
Announced in the March budget, this investment includes a Second Career Strategy and money for apprenticeships and post-secondary institutes.
>more on the budget
>update from SDAG

Economic Security in the North: Challenges and Strategies
The Northern Ontario Women's Economic Development Conference, hosted by PARO in Thunder Bay in late April, and sponsored in part by ACTEW, looked at a wide variety of factors impacting women's economic security in northern communities.
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Provincial Poverty Reduction: Countdown to a Poverty Reduction Plan
In April, the 25 in 5 Network on Poverty Reduction asked the provincial government for a plan to reduce Ontario poverty levels by 25% in 5 years and by 50% before 2018.
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RESOURCES

• The collaborative research project, It's Your Call, examines the impact of HRSDC's Call for Proposals process on community-based training.
>Executive Summary
>Full Report

• Fact sheets and a report from the Canadian Labour Congress detail gender work inequities. Produced as part of the Equality: Once and For All campaign.
>more on the CLC site

• To be eligible for Ontario's Child Benefit OW and ODSP recipients need to file their tax returns.
>more from the Income Security Advocacy Centre

UpCOMING

CCWESTT Conference

Celebrate women's successes at the 12th annual Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology conference in Guelph, May 29-31.
>conference web site

Dialogue: Connecting Immigrants to the Workforce

This event, hosted by ONESTEP, brings together employer representatives with employment agencies that provide services to immigrants in Ontario, May 27-28, in Markham.
>ONESTEP web site

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Putting Women in the Picture

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