Canada Company Challenges Private Sector to Hire 10,000 Veterans over the next 10 Years

TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2013 /CNW/ - Canada Company today issued a challenge to the Canadian business community to show their commitment to Veterans by hiring Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members transitioning from Military to civilian life. In an effort to facilitate the Veteran-hiring process, Canada Company introduced the Military Employment Transition (MET) program, now known as the Canada Company MET Employer Coalition.

The MET program matches Veterans with more than one hundred businesses across Canada looking for employees with specific skill sets, and provides "Employer Partners" with the tools they need to successfully onboard and retrain transitioning CAF members. Employer Partners commit to hiring Veterans and retraining them in order that they might successfully integrate into the civilian workforce. In exchange, Employer Partners receive access to an untapped pool of highly-skilled, disciplined and dedicated employees.

"I have seen firsthand the level of commitment and perseverance that our service men and women display in the workforce," said Blake Goldring, Chairman of Canada Company, and Chairman and CEO of AGF Management Limited. "Our Employer Partners benefit immensely from the valuable skills our Veterans bring to the table and we know that there are vast numbers of companies that will benefit from joining the MET program and helping us to achieve our goal of finding jobs for 10,000 CAF members over the next 10 years."

Despite the high-level and easily transferrable skill sets Veterans possess, the transition to civilian life can prove to be challenging.  For many employers who are involved in the program, they see their role as not only being a good corporate and community leader on this issue, but able to tap into a highly skilled resource pool to fill key roles within their organization.

In developing the MET program, Canada Company has recently looked to the 100,000 Jobs Mission in the United States for guidance on the best approach to addressing this challenge. The 100,000 Jobs Mission has provided valuable advice and experience that has already helped the Canadian program expand the pool of business partners available to transitioning and former CAF members.

Canada Company will be hosting its inaugural Employer Partner conference November 21 and 22 in Toronto. The conference will bring together existing and prospective Employer Partners to build relationships, share successful transition techniques and provide an opportunity for open discussion about the program. Companies interested in participating in the challenge can learn more about the conference and the MET program by visiting the Canada Company website at www.canadacompany.ca

Canada Company is a non-partisan charitable organization that serves to build a bridge between business and community leaders and the Canadian Military. It was formed in May 2006 with a pledge to stand should to shoulder with our service men and women for the sacrifices they make every day. Since then, the organization has grown to more than 500 members and has become an influential voice advocating for our Canadian Armed Forces at home and abroad.

SOURCE: Canada Company

For more information on Canada Company or the MET program, contact:

Walter Moniz
Manager, Employer Partner Relations
[phone]
[email protected]