Project - Essentials Skills and SMEs:
Canadian Community Colleges and
Chambers of Commerce Join Forces
Project funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
September 2007 to October 2009
Purpose of the project
The purpose of this project is to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by systematizing the interventions, tools and practices in Essential Skills (ES), especially those involving oral communication, working with others, thinking skills and computer use.
Project activities
The project will run for two years. It began on September 1, 2007 and will end on October 30, 2009.
It consists of five main components:
- Establish 24 partnerships between colleges/institutes and associated Chambers of Commerce to work with SMEs. Each partnership will reach at least five SMEs in different economic sectors.
- With the support of an advisory committee and national ES experts, define a joint intervention approach for local or regional Chambers of Commerce and SMEs.
- Identify, in communities, specific workforce issues in order to appropriately serve the client groups (women, immigrants, Aboriginals, and youth at risk).
- Develop, with the cooperation of experts and colleges/institutes, assessment, development and planning tools and methodologies for four specific ES: oral communication, working with others, thinking skills, and computer use.
- Implement and test the tools and approaches identified, then disseminate the results.
Expected results
- Twenty-four colleges and 24 Chambers of Commerce will be equipped to diagnose needs for the specific ES of the project and to find solutions to bridge the identified gap between the current situation and the one desired by the employers;
- Close to 150 businesses involved in the project will be familiarized with the ES implementation approach in their workplace;
- A documented intervention approach will have been validated and will have been disseminated to all colleges and Chambers of Commerce in Canada.
