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OAYECPositioning Bulletin

The OAYEC Positioning Bulletin shares OAYEC's positions, values or discussion items related to the youth employment sector, and is available the first Monday of every month.




TOPIC for January 8th, 2007:

OAYEC’s Position on the Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA)

 

Introduction

As of six days ago (January 2, 2007) the LMDA has been in place. During the transition of the Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) there will be an emphasis on integrating adult employment program delivery into the provincial management structure. The province has promised business continuity and opportunities for consultation while this transition is occurring. It is important to recognize that throughout the LMDA, the federal government will keep their existing youth employment programming. Thus, the challenge for OAYEC lies in maintaining the provinces support for youth employment services during the transition. Historically, both Job Connect (which is funded by the provincial government) and Skills Link (which is funded by the Federal government) have jointly supported youth employment. It is important to discuss the impacts that may occur as the transfer takes place.

 

OAYEC’s Position

OAYEC encourages the provincial government to not “lose” youth. OAYEC appreciates that the two models of Job Connect and Skills Link are complementary and form a complete youth employment program. While building a new provincially based employment system there needs to be a cognizant effort to ensure that youth will not be lost. Youth employment funding needs to be established as a priority and there should be clear communications provided by both governments as to how this priority can be delivered by community organizations.

OAYEC applauds the provincal emphasis on business continuity and consultation, and will keep monitoring to ensure the province does a good job. OAYEC hopes that there will be coherent logic to any changes made and those changes will be communicated clearly by the government to non-profits. It is important that non – profits are informed about government decisions during the LMDA transition. They need to act proactively to avoid losses to programming, and build the capacity of young people to succeed in securing employment opportunities.

It would be beneficial to look at the question, “As a result of the LMDA will the changes made provide the same or higher level of support for clients?”. In order to record this, a clear evaluative process must be established which will support the documentation of these services provided to clients. Client feedback will be an important indicator as to whether the LMDA is a successful model or not.

OAYEC encourages the non-profit employment sector to form a strong coalition. OAYEC recognizes that it is not able to provide sole leadership since youth is a specialized segment of the population. We would like to call upon other provincial based umbrella organizations to mobilize in order to provide a strong network that the government can communicate and receive key decisions and messages effectively, especially during this time of transition.

 

Current Initiatives

LMDA Service Delivery Advisory Group (SDAG): The LMDA SDAG was established by the Province’s LMDA Management Committee to consult service deliverers and seek advice on key issues in the implementation of the LMDA. OAYEC’s executive director joins several representatives in consulting with the government on business continuity, program design, service delivery and program planning, on this group.

 

How can you be involved?

Member and other stakeholder opinions are welcome at any time. Please send in your thoughts on the impacts of the LMDA transition that OAYEC can share with the provincial government and the LMDA Service Delivery Advisory Group.

 

Quick Facts on Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA)

  • The Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) includes the transfer of federal government projects, programs and staff to the provincial government.
  • The LMDA promotes harmonization and coordination in the design and delivery of labour market programs and services in Ontario.
  • The LMDA signed November 23, 2005, it took effect January 1, 2007
  • The LMDA is an open-ended agreement (no expiry date)
  • The LMDA transfers Federal EI Part II funded training and employment programs to Ontario in the Employment Benefits, Support Measures and Job Bank programs
  • The LMDA transfers about 600 federal employees to the Ontario Public Service
  • The LMDA transfers some federal assets and IM/IT systems to Ontario
  • The LMDA transfers $525M per year from the EI account, plus $53M per year in operating resources to Ontario
  • Not all Government of Canada employment programs are affected
  • For a current organizational chart of the provincial administration of employment programs, please click:
    Organizational Chart [pdf, 132 kb], LMTD’s New Organizational Design [pdf, 62 kb]

 

For more information, please contact:

Soni Dasmohapatra, Researcher
sdasmohapatra@oayec.org

 

OAYECThe GO TO organization for youth employment issues.

The OAYEC Positioning Bulletin is a monthly newsletter provided by the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres. OAYEC's mission is to support and advocate for a sustainable youth employment delivery network.

Feedback, comments, and suggestions for future Positioning Bulletins are welcome!
Contact: Soni Dasmohapatra, Researcher, sdasmohapatra@oayec.org

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