2023 with a capital “C”

Another year (almost) in the books! 2023 was a big year for Workforce Collective and we would like to give a big shout out to everyone – staff, Board, partners, supporters and friends – who made this year possible. 

Collaboration was the word of the year. New community initiatives and partnerships took root, relationships deepened, and partnerships flourished.  We’re honoured to be part of a community that makes this kind of work possible.  

Before we jump into 2024, we’d like to take some time to reflect on all that we’ve accomplished together over the last year.  This year’s highlights include:  

Immigrant Employment Council work  

Immigration to Canada has boomed in recent years, accounting for nearly 100% of our nation’s labour force growth.  As Niagara’s Immigrant Employment Council, we’ve been exploring what this growth means for newcomers and the employers who hire them. 

• Employer LINK: We continued to partner with YMCA of Niagara’s Employment & Immigrant Services to offer Employer LINK, a coaching service that matches employers with newcomer job seekers and supports one-on-one employee hiring and retention.  Over the last year or so, this project has helped more than 30 newcomers find employment in their field of choice. 

• Engaging SMEs project: In May, we launched our Employer & Resource Navigator pilot.  This service was designed by local employers to help connect small and medium sized employers to resources and tools that could enable better recruitment and retention of newcomer talent. 

• Immigrant Employment Councils of Canada (IECC) Leadership Summit: In October, we welcomed friends from across Canada at the IECC Leadership Summit here in Niagara.  Over two days, network leaders shared, learned and strategized together to explore opportunities to support effective integration of immigrant talent into the Canadian workplaces.  

Workforce Issue Briefs 

Throughout the year. we observed workforce sustainability within the non-profit sector, education and training, and early learning and childcare, as well as issues within immigrant employment.  Check out the links below to view each 2-page issue brief: 

• Equitable Employment for Immigrants – A Win-Win For All 
• From Burnt Out to On Fire: Supporting the Non-Profit Workforce 
• A Glimpse into Our Education and Training Sector 
• Childcare Workforce in Crisis: Our Economy Won’t Work Without ELCC Workers 
• Trends in Healthcare Workforce Sustainability 

Launching the Niagara Workforce Coalition 

In October, we teamed up with local municipalities, service providers, industry associates and education providers, to launch the Niagara Workforce Coalition.  The coalition will lead workforce-related action to support a strong local economy, powered by fair employment opportunities and collaborative employee recruitment and retention efforts.  Learn more about this emerging initiative in our media release. 

Growing Your Workforce Conference 

This year, we had the pleasure of hosting the Growing Your Workforce Conference here in Niagara.  Over 160 people from across Niagara and Ontario joined us for a day of learning and networking.  The overarching goal for the day was to spark new ways of thinking and doing to accelerate workforce solutions. 

If you weren’t able to join us, you can view recordings of most sessions on our YouTube channel.

Welcoming New Team Members 

And, finally, a year in review wouldn’t be complete without welcoming the new faces who joined the Workforce Collective team in 2023.  

• We welcomed two new Board members this year, Ruth Unrau and Rebecca Nicholls.  We also said farewell and thank you to Mark Cherney, who finished his second term on the Board this year. 
• We were also thrilled to have Jamie Miller, Grace Eldajani and Jenny Vu join our staff in 2023.  Follow the links to learn more about these wonderful new additions to our team. 

Gratitude and Looking Forward 

Thank you, again, to all our project partners, collaborators, and supporters who helped to make this year of continued growth and transformation possible! 

Want to explore ways to collaborate next year? Workforce Collective supports service delivery organizations and employers through data collection & analysis, project design, grant writing, research facilitation, project evaluation, impact assessment, and more.  If you have a project or opportunity you would like to explore with us, we’re always happy to connect! 

With even more exciting and interesting work emerging in 2024, make sure you stay in touch. 

Wishing you all the best in your year-end wrap up and beyond, 

The Workforce Collective team