Challenge question

What initiative could the City of Oshawa take on to help address employment supply in a post-COVID recovery environment?

Educational partners

Get Back into Work Initiative
This Initiative is to empower individuals who have suffered from mental health issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the individuals who continue to suffer from mental illnesses every day. The implementation of workshops available in the community with healthcare professionals, career advisors, and local businesses working collaboratively. These workshops would support those in transitioning back out into public and getting back to the workforce.

Technology for Youth
Technology for Youth was created to develop online training programs which will seamlessly integrate workers of all ages and skill level, into the virtual workplace. The goal is to utilize Oshawa’s resources, offering programs virtually anywhere. High schools, public libraries, and senior centres are among the various locations selected to host these programs, creating a mechanism to build confidence in workers of all ages as they enter the remote workforce.

Addressing the Labour Shortage in the Food Service and Tourism Industry
Through partnerships with a variety of local businesses, this initiative will provide a skills training program provided to the community through government and city funding that will focus on filling the labour supply gap in the city. This will enable youth/ older generations to explore different skills training to find out what they want to do within their educational journey. An example would include a chef program, partnering with Durham College that would provide a space to work out of and that can provide employment once their certificate and program are completed.

Public Workshops and Seminars
This initiative would offer a series of workshops to support job seekers and businesses which could include online and in person sessions. The purpose of these workshops is to: help prepare individuals for future employment, assist small business in developing their online presence and using the available technology, helping individuals who are returning to the workforce. This would include offering support and knowledge to job seekers. Provide information on the requirement of jobs that will be available and help to prepare for those jobs. Additionally, those looking to return to the work can receive assistance with job related skills such as interviewing skills and resume building.

Using Billboards and Transit to Promote Oshawa Employment Opportunities
This initiative involves utilizing large billboards in high traffic areas to post ads with direct phone numbers and links to the Durham Workforce Authority. Here, job seekers can easily search and instantly apply to jobs within the City of Oshawa and surrounding areas. The stand-alone billboard, buses, and bus shelters will be eye-catching advertisements to drivers and pedestrians. We are confident that this frequently viewed advertising seen by countless job seekers will be bringing awareness, driving high volumes of traffic to the company’s career page.

Social Procurement Program
This initiative is tasked with creating a more diverse community, new job opportunities and incentivizing local purchasing. In our video, we discuss how this Social Procurement Program can be used to increase workforce development, achieve strategic goals, social goals, economic goals, and sustainability goals. Using partnerships with nearby post-secondary institutions and Buy Social Canada will give the City of Oshawa the opportunity to implement the Social Procurement Program. These partnerships can allow for the community’s input, professional consulting, and lead to incentives for community-based participation. We discuss in detail, the positive outcomes of our Social Procurement Program, which include the improvement of community capital and access to monitor the health of the community. The Social Procurement Program can be implemented using various methods and promoted by incentivizing community members and businesses of all sizes, but the benefits remain the same, which is creating a more confident, diverse, and booming community in the City of Oshawa.

Student Work Placements
This initiative was originally created to combat unemployment in Oshawa during the post COVID time period. Essentially the funding provided would be used to train and provide exposure for said businesses involved. After closer inspection of the unemployment rate in Durham region, it came to our attention that post university and college students are a huge untapped resource for our economy and in order to utilize that we need to provide exposure of the issue (creating urgency) and create an opportunity for post grads to foster employment on a business network basis. And have an ongoing relationship that would allow for business to network with potential employees and get exposure for doing so and for students to network and secure future employers. It is our hope by doing so we help not only combat the unemployment issue in our region but foster business growth to keep our economy afloat.