Essential Skills - National Adult Literacy Database
Essential Skills - National Adult Literacy Database
Essential Skills - National Adult Literacy Database
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<strong>Essential</strong> <strong>Skills</strong> and the Northern Oil and Gas Workforce Final Report and Resource Guide<br />
Day 1 SESSION 5:<br />
AN INTEGRATED MODEL FOR EMPLOYMENT<br />
PREPARATION<br />
Presenter: Colin MacGregor (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)<br />
Overview:<br />
In 2002, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) commissioned a study by Price<br />
Waterhouse Coopers to provide a quantitative assessment of the Inuvialuit Settlement<br />
Region’s capacity to sustain benefits derived from the Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline Project<br />
– in particular, to develop a 10 year Human Resource Strategic Plan. An observation made<br />
by the authors was that many people in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region are not prepared<br />
for work on a major development project yet employers expect candidates to have the skills,<br />
attitudes and behaviours necessary for successful employment.<br />
Another study done for the IRC, by Price Waterhouse Coopers concluded that many<br />
northerners have insufficient education to obtain or succeed in the higher skilled jobs<br />
provided by the project. In addition, the Introduction Section of the NWT application for the<br />
Oil and Gas Industry under the ASEP program points out that without intense and directed<br />
employment skills development programs, Aboriginals will not be able to take advantage of<br />
employment opportunities.<br />
These observations have been reinforced by industry. Simply put, employers want<br />
employees who are ready, willing and able to work. While tremendous strides have been<br />
made to train and develop workers, there are still many Inuvialuit Beneficiaries unable to<br />
enter the work force due to lack of education or work skills.<br />
The Workplace Readiness Program (WRP) is designed to transition Inuvialuit Beneficiaries<br />
into the workplace by providing basic essential skills and job exposure through work<br />
placements. This is not a new concept but a new approach. It is not meant as a single<br />
remedy to the larger issue of a skilled workforce but it is one solution. The program is<br />
flexible and can be delivered in the classroom, in the workplace, and in small communities,<br />
and will be individually focused. The WRP is also hoping to offer different modes of delivery.<br />
To be successful, the Program will have to engage people in remote communities with<br />
limited access to jobs.<br />
This program brings together a number of components through 7 phases, a practical<br />
approach that will hopefully make a direct link to the goal of employment. The program<br />
anchor is the work that HRSDC has done in developing job profiles outlining the essential<br />
skills required for various occupations. The TOWES assessment and supporting curriculum<br />
will be used to benchmark and upgrade participants’ workplace essential skills. With all of<br />
the economic activity currently in the Delta and the positive forecast for the future, the IRC<br />
needs to aid beneficiaries to obtain long term career focused employment that will help<br />
break the normal “boom and bust cycle” of short term unskilled jobs.<br />
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