2018-10-05

Provincial/Territorial Roundtables

Minutes of the Meeting

Attendees:

Crinean, KayNovaKnowledge902-494-1510, ext.15

Cuvelier, AlanDept. of Community Services902-424-4758

Davison, MarjorieDept. of Education902-424-5191

De Schiffart, ClarenceNSCC

Edwards, LaurieNSCC902-491-3529

Fisher, Mary-AnnNSCC902-491-3537

McKenzie, SandraDept. of Education902-

Smith, PeterDept. of Edudation

  1. Presentation and Discussion

Laurie Edwards introduced the meeting, stressing the fact that career development has been mobilizing across the country for a number of years.

Lynne gave a PowerPoint presentation on the National Symposium: Background, Vision and Future. The Symposium objectives were placed in context with recent Canadian and International initiatives on career development, lifelong learning and workforce development.

The presentation raised several questions that led to a fruitful discussion

Participants suggested that the definition of information, guidance and career counselling should be clearer. These titles are not generally well understood outside the career development community and need to be defined so all stakeholders understand similar concepts. It was felt that the presentation was more career development oriented than employer driven; other stakeholders may not relate as much to this content and vocabulary. The expected benefits of such an initiative (i.e. what’s in it for us) need to be more transparent and concrete in order to stimulate their involvement. How career development can help employers deal with their current workforce problems needs to be more obvious. It was suggested to use the expression “skilled workforce”, “skilled and knowledgeable workforce”, "skilled and adaptable workforce” (some variation thereof) in the Symposium title: it describes what employers are looking for and they understand its meaning.

Another constructive suggestion was to try starting the presentation with the objectives of the Symposium and then return to the background; it may add clarity to the project for employers. CCDF will experiment with this!

Sandra offered that the Department of Education had conducted a survey of employer needs from education in developing its Skills Development Strategy. Results are very interesting. Sandra will send a copy of the report to CCDF.

Participants cautioned that the data quoted on skill shortages from CFIB need to be used carefully: businesses will agree with the statistics, but it was suggested that this is also often the result of bad human resource planning and a search for cheap labour rather that a more straight forward skills shortage issue. Kay agreed to forward information on employers to CCDF to help make the presentation more meaningful for them. Much appreciated.

As far as the implementation of a good career development system, participants felt that two issues were critical – first to be clear on what such a system actually does and secondly to ensure a focus on what is happening in the provinces now and build on existing practices.

An effective and responsive system was described as having at least five components across the lifespan as follows:

  • Career information and support in using information
  • Individual and group assistance to establish purposeful and personally meaningful education, training and work goals
  • Assistance to access learning opportunities and to acquire essential career management and employability skills
  • Access to supports when needed to manage successfully both planned and unexpected transitions between work and learning.

This was clearly an important component for the Communications strategy which will precede the Symposium and CCDF will ensure that this is included. An excellent question, the answer to which should not be assumed.

Participants were emphatic that the wheel does not need to be recreated or invented anew; there are many spokes already in place and these must be the basis of forward movement, owned by the provinces and territories and federally supported as appropriate. The intention of the Symposium to stimulate provincial/territorial discussion, encourage sharing of expertise and promising practices and make relevant recommendations rather than replace it with a national agenda was stressed. CCDF fully endorsed this intent and agreed that “how” the Symposium is presented is extremely important for collaboration to occur.

Participants offered that the discussion that occurred at the roundtable needs to be duplicated with different groups. The Department of Education will play a leadership role in this project. It is seen as a great opportunity to bring the provincial career development agenda forward.

  1. Building a Provincial Team: Brainstorming Session

Building a representative team to represent the 3 stakeholder groups was presented as "the critical ingredient" to the success of the Symposium. Members of the team ideally should be decision makers themselves or in positions of influence so that they have access to and can provide briefings to senior decision makers in their respective jurisdictions following the Symposium. It was emphasized that the Symposium is not a conference, but a working forum and numbers must be restricted to maintain the working essence. Another critical factor is that funding for the team must come from the province/ territory. There are no funds available to subsidize travel and accommodation although there will be hospitality provided and there is no Symposium fee. The selection of the team will be the responsibility of the province/territory; CCDF will assist wherever possible and desired. It was recognized that for this to be representative and an inclusive process rather than competitive and exclusive is a very important objective and critical to the spirit and the intent of the Symposium. All of these factors present important challenges to be addressed.

The ideal team composition was outlined consisting of representatives from the three stakeholder groups as follows:

  • Policy Developers:Education – K to 12

Employment/Career Services

Social Services

  • Career Development Practitioners:Academic/Researcher

Professional Association

Manager of Adult Career Services

  • Employers:Sector Council

Small and Medium Enterprises

Labour/Union

Responsibilities and desired qualities were presented as follows:

  • Openness to innovation
  • Readiness to review communications pieces
  • Willingness to invest some time contributing to a short paper pre-Symposium (if this direction is decided upon)
  • Attendance at the Symposium
  • Commitment to brief senior officials and/or own constituency post-Symposium
  • Willingness to initiate and support follow-up actions
  • The team should be a good representation of the challenges in the labour market and in career development in the province.

The Roundtable was asked to address the following question:

Where are these representatives structurally located in the province?

The participants worked in two small groups and presented their ideas. The discussion led to the identification of the following organisations/groups/existing bodies that would need to be included:

  • Policy:

Education – Department of Education: K-12

Career and Employment Services:

Labour Market Partnership

HRDC

Skills Nova Scotia (SNS)

Social Services

Department of Community Services

Employment Support for Income Assistance (ESIA)

  • Career Practitioners:
  • Research:

Atlantic Province Economic Council (APEC)

GPT/OED

NovaKnowledge

Using “pathfinders”, those in the know, well connected, who can direct us to research sources; these will be pursued

It was pointed out that there is not necessarily relevant research going on in every province/territory. In these cases, this team category could be omitted and substituted with a representative in another area where there is greater strength. It also could present an opportunity, during the Symposium, to discover strengths in other provinces/territories which could be beneficial in future endeavours

  • Career Associations

Nova Scotia Career Development Association

Prior Learning Association Centre

  • Managers of Services:

Nova Scotia Community College

Career Transition Services

  • Workplace/Employers:
  • Sector Council:

Black Business Initiative (BBI)

Metro Immigration Settlement Association (MISA)

Alliance Industry of Sector Council (AISC)

  • Industry Associations

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association

Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia

Regional Development Authorities

Exemplary Businesses (Big Businesses)

  • Unions:

Nova Scotia Federation of Labour

N.B. This discussion, taking the stakeholder beyond “Employer” to the broader concept of “Workplace” was extremely helpful and resulted in identifying a more inclusive framework for future roundtables. This is much appreciated.

Participants also offered the suggestion that service providers should be included as a group. They are an essential component of every day career development delivery. This will be taken forward to future roundtables.

  • Providers:

School Boards

Adult Education

Maritime Provincial Higher Education Council

Nova Scotia Community College

Universities

Nova Scotia School for Adult Learners

Third Party Service Providers

The question was raised of having a team greater than nine persons. There will be flexibility needed and the province was encouraged to move forward to be as inclusive as possible. If tough decisions are needed, we can face them later on. In the interim, good work will have been started.

It was strongly emphasized that “what’s in it for Nova Scotia”, that is how this fits with and advances already very active initiatives to address workforce issues, is critical to gaining support for the participation of a N.S. team. This presents an opportunity for Nova Scotia to present this case and link it to the Department of Education and their leadership. Sandra agreed to take this forward and put it in writing as a communications piece for N.S.

It was suggested that the Department of Education act as chair for the Provincial Team. The idea of having a “Chef de Mission” for the Symposium was presented. This will be discussed further in the follow-up meeting on defining the process.

Following the plenary, participants were asked to answer the following questions:

What process needs to be put in place to identify and select the individuals who will be member of the Nova Scotia Team?

Who, in the province, will play a key role to make this happen?

What role, if any, would CCDF need to play to support this process?

Time being very limited, Sandra and Laurie offered to organise a second meeting to discuss the process and inform CCDF of the results by mid May. Much appreciated!!

  1. National Symposium Themes Draft Paper

There was no time to discuss the Themes Paper. It is currently under revision following feedback from other round tables as well as ongoing evolution in CCDF thinking as the ideas of roundtable participants are heard from across the country. A Revised Version will be sent shortly and the full Roundtable will be invited to comment. In the interim any participant who wishes to comment on the current draft is invited to do so.

  1. Communication Strategy

This item was not discussed because of time constraints. CCDF will provide a written update on the to the Roundtable soon. Included will be a listing of papers currently under consideration to form part of the ongoing strategy plus an invitation to the roundtable to consider contributing a paper as part of the Symposium proceedings. Clearly, there are several provincial developments which would be excellent to highlight and which would be a contribution to the Symposium as a whole. This will be further elaborated by CCDF.

  1. Advisory Committee

Sandra and Laurie volunteered to be the interim member of the National Advisory Committee until the Nova Scotia team is in place and a representative from the team identified to sit on the National Advisory Committee. They will ensure liaison with CCDF until then. Again, this is very much appreciated.

6.Closure

From the perspective of CCDF, the meeting was very stimulating and enlightened the thinking around the objectives and the outcomes of the Symposium. Clarity of language and outcomes are clearly critical. Provinces must enter the Symposium with the intent of leaving with a provincial action plan which builds on what they are already achieving and also has benefited from wider dialogue. CCDF takes these suggestions very seriously and looks forward to reactions and critiques to further communication pieces to help us “stay the course”.

Participants endorsed the Symposium as a catalyst to bring the career development agenda forward in the province as a timely opportunity. CCDF will write a letter to the ADM Education in appreciation of the roundtable and in an effort to place the Symposium on his agenda for a briefing by Sandra.

Discussion following the Roundtable led to another version of the Symposium title moving from: Making Connections to “Making the Connection to “Working the Connection”. We will try this out in other roundtables. We are moving much closer to “making meaning”!

CCDF offered to be of whatever assistance it is able to provide to support the province in moving this initiative forward. The meeting was very much appreciated – the exchange of views very insightful and constructive. CCDF looks forward to working with the Nova Scotia Roundtable and the Nova Scotia Team in the coming months.

Summary of actions to be taken
Actions / Responsibility
1. Send information on employers to CCDF to make the presentation more meaningful to them. / Kay Crinean
2. Write a two pager on what a well developed career development system would be / CCDF
3. Articulate “What’s in it for Nova Scotia” to get support from senior management for the NS Team / Sandra McKenzie
4. Organise a follow-up meeting to define the process to identify and choose NS Team members / Sandra McKenzie and Laurie Edwards
5. Inform CCDF on the results of the meeting by mid-May / Sandra McKenzie or Laurie Edwards
6. Write a letter to the D.M. of Education to explain the roundtable and link it to the Career Development agenda in Nova Scotia. Send the draft to Sandra for comments / CCDF
7. Write and send the minutes to roundtable participants / CCDF
8. Act as an interim Advisory Committee member and liaise with CCDF / Sandra McKenzie and Laurie Edwards

1