TORONTO, May 20 /CNW/ - Almost 300 representatives from business, labour,
education and government will gather May 21 in Toronto to prioritize
recommendations to governments to address the retraining challenges for
laid-off workers and the long-term need to avert a skills shortage crisis.
The session will include keynote addresses by Training, Colleges and
Universities Minister John Milloy and by Ross Laver, the vice-president of
policy and communications for the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
The workforce challenge is a significant issue in Ontario. Thousands of
workers have lost their jobs in key sectors such as manufacturing and
forestry. At the same time, other sectors are struggling to find sufficient
numbers of qualified people. That challenge will intensify in the years ahead
as the baby boomers retire and Ontario faces a shortage of more than
360,000 skilled employees by 2025.
The May 21 strategy session is a follow-up to consultations conducted
throughout the province in February and March. Participants at the May 21
event will examine the recommendations from those consultations and prioritize
the key steps needed to develop comprehensive skills strategies in Ontario and
Canada.The symposium will run as follows:
Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Location: Westin Harbour Castle, at 1 Harbour Square, Toronto
Time: 8:30 a.m - noon (speeches will run from 8:30 a.m. to
9 a.m.)For more information on the Ontario Workforce Shortage Coalition, please
visit: http://www.workforcecoalition.ca/.
For further information: Darrell Neufeld, Senior Communications Officer,
(416) 596-0744, ext. 242, neufeld@collegesontario.org
