New publication highlights labour market in Peterborough area
By: Jennifer Lamantia, Chief Executive Officer, Workforce Development Board
In 2015, the Workforce Development Board was selected through a competitive process and awarded funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education Skills Development to deliver the Local Employment Planning Council (LEPC) pilot. The initiative is currently in its second phase that commenced on June 1, 2017 ending September 30, 2018 with recent news of an additional extension to March 31, 2019. Our most recent publication, available on our website, is our Community Labour Market Plan 2018/2019. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth review of a variety of factors that influence our local labour market. The report was shaped using both quantitative and qualitative data that we obtained from input from more than 200 community stakeholders through in-person interviews, online surveys and focus groups. Some highlights from our report include the following:
• Peterborough City and County’s total population in 2016 was 138,236, up 3,308 people (2.5 per cent) since 2011. People 65 and older represented 22.8 per cent of the total population.
• From 2011 to 2016, the in-migration of individuals aged 18 to 44 represents 12,429 people and the out-migration of individuals in the same age category is 12,196 individuals, leaving the net-migration at 233, an age group that represents a critical supply of the workforce. This is contrasted with the net-migration of 45 to 64 year olds at 2,015 individuals.
• The total labour force population (individuals aged 15 to 65 and up) was 118,345 with the majority of this population falling between the ages of 45 to 64 with 40,520 people or 34.2 per cent of the labour force population. This flags the need for a succession plan as this age group begins to retire.
• In terms of businesses, according to Statistics Canada, of the 12,264 businesses in Peterborough City and County, 83 per cent of the businesses have four or fewer employees, highlighting the contribution that entrepreneurs and small businesses make to our local economy. We hope that the information provided in our Community Labour Market Plan will help to inform regional workforce development and future project collaborations. Several other projects have been launched during the pilot including a number recently released in 2018. Online Job Boards is a report reviewing the popular and growing job board space through a national, provincial and local lens for Peterborough, Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton. The report provides an analysis of online job posting activity by industry and occupation, which equips job seekers with some information to consider while navigating their job search. Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers is a report that aims to help persons with disabilities achieve their full employment potential and serves as a resource for business owners interested in making their operation more inclusive. We have also launched the first iteration of MyHomeWorks (www. myhomeworks.net), an online learning platform that provides students with the opportunity to connect their interests to local labour market opportunities and delve into some of the external factors that can have an impact on job searches and their future career path. MyHomeWorks is a complimentary platform and can be used by any of the schools in our service area. It is available now for teachers to preview for use for fall classes. LEPCs are being piloted in eight areas: Durham, London-MiddlesexOxford-Elgin, Ottawa, Peel-Halton, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Windsor, and here in Peterborough. LEPCs focus on local approaches to workforce development and the collection, analysis and dissemination of labour market information. The Workforce Development Board/ Local Employment Planning Council (WDB/LEPC) has completed a number of individual projects since initiating the pilot. All of the projects researched and developed have been informed by the generous feedback from employment service providers, employers, job seekers, educators, students, government agencies and a variety of community stakeholders in our service area that includes: Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, Northumberland County (which includes Alderville First Nation) and Peterborough County (which includes Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation). For more information, or to download copies of the WDB/LEPC projects or the Community Labour Market Plan visit www.wdb.ca