Workforce Strategy

Planning for Prosperity

Workforce development is a critical tool for creating regional prosperity. Workforce development supports economic development by:

  • Helping employers find and retain the qualified workers they need to operate their business
  • Attracting investors planning to relocate or start a new business
  • Assisting individuals to identify career opportunities, complete the required training and education and seek employment
  • Identifying and addressing barriers or gaps in employer needs and workforce supply and capacity.

The Western Ontario Workforce Strategy will focus on the development of a resilient labour force that will meet employer demand and leverage the workforce planning efforts of community partners and the Province of Ontario.

The strategy will establish WOWC’s Workforce Development goals, objectives, strategic actions, performance measures and action plan. The project will also include the development of market-ready toolkits to assist the WOWC’s members to retain, attract and build the workforce needed to support economic prosperity across the region.

Phase 1: Background Study
A background discussion report provides a summary of the previous regional programs and workforce strategies that precede this strategy and identify issues and opportunities for consideration in the strategy development.

Phase 2:  Consultation & Analysis
This phase included broad stakeholder engagement through interviews, focus groups and surveys to gain insights on the region’s workforce development issues and opportunities. This phase also included analysis of current housing strategies and the needs of the growing and evolving population and workforce of the WOWC region.

Phase 3: Strategy & Implementation
This phase of the project built upon the research and analysis in the previous phases to develop a strategy an action plan to guide the development of the workforce needed to support regional prosperity. The plan included the development of a microsite with additional data and other resources to assist WOWC members in their efforts to create a welcoming and supportive environment for new and existing residents that will participate in the workforce.

Documents:

To learn more about the Western Ontario Workforce Strategy please contact:

Kate Burns Gallagher
WOWC Executive Director Economic Development
ecdev@wowc.ca