Ladysmith is located on the eastern shores of beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia. With a population of over 8,000, it has a thriving downtown business community centered around historic First Avenue.
The LDBA actively works to cultivate an environment of economic and cultural vibrancy in the Ladysmith downtown core. The meeting schedule is:
Executive/Marketing Committee: 1st Thursday of every month
Organization name: Community Link Connexions Inc. Contact name: Tina Fabbro Website: www.clcx.ca Year formed: 2005 Address: #121-630 2nd Avenue (Ladysmith Resources Centre), Ladysmith, BC V9G 1B2 Phone: (250) 797-0533 Fax: (250) 245-3798
Services
Community Link is an employment training and community support service for high school students and young adults with developmental disabilities funded by Community Living BC and the Ministry of Housing and Social Development.
Community Link delivers person-centered, creative, innovative, and flexible services in Ladysmith and surrounding communities to assist and encourage full participation in community life. All support is grounded in the firm belief that work is an integral part of adult life and the presumption of employability.
Employment is a key component to full inclusion as it promotes social and economic independence.
Interested in diversifying your workforce or accessing employment supports? Please call Tina @ (250) 797-0533.
Employment Navigators Presents:
Students Helping Seniors Program 2009
Helping seniors with household tasks and providing youth with employment.
About the Program
Students Helping Seniors enables seniors to complete odd jobs around the home with the aid of local youth through a coordinated summer program. Students provide assistance with jobs such as, yard and garden maintenance, household chores, pet care and shopping. The homeowner supplies all the tools, materials and equipment required.
The Labour Market Project was implemented at the end of September 2008 and ran to the end of February 2009. The focus was to research issues around the business capacity for human resource planning in the Ladysmith area. With employers reaching out to local employment service providers for assistance not only with recruiting the right talent for their businesses, but also in an effort to evaluate their policies and procedures to ensure they are operating in a manner that is ethical, supportive and conducive to long term employment.
The LMP researched the human resource planning needs of the business community, then prepared and presented the information and tools specific to these topics, encompassing the unique challenges faced by individual communities.
Employment Navigators subcontracted the project to Toro Marketing Research who, in turn, conducted research with local employers to identify the gap between employment and employee retention.
After initially sharing the findings with the Steering Committee; two excellent presentations were given:
To the Ladysmith Downtown Business Association
To the Ladysmith Chamber of Commerce
The Labour Market Project makes for interesting reading identifying specific needs of both employees and employers in the Ladysmith area. In the coming 12 years, the current estimates provided by WorkBC indicate half of the new jobs will result from economic growth and the other half will replace retiring workers.
Labour activity, as we have seen in recent months can shift dramatically from shortage of skilled workers to an abundance of qualified people looking for work. When the LMP was launched it was classified as an “employees market”, with an abundance of positions available for prospective employees, within six months the market shifted to an “employers market” with many over qualified workers applying for positions.
It is important employers remain informed, prepared, and proactive to the current market trends no matter which shift pattern they are currently experiencing.
Company name: Employment Navigators Contact name: Ann MacGillivray Website:www.employmentnavigators.com Year formed: 1992 Address: 710 1st Avenue, Ladysmith, BC V9G 1A6 Local phone: (250) 245-7134 Local fax: (250) 245-2153
Services
Employment Navigators (also known as Ladysmith Employment Assistance Society) began operations in 1992 to serve the population of Ladysmith and surrounding areas by providing an integrated Employment Resource Centre to the community. We are the only one-stop local employment assistance service agency in our area and take tremendous pride in offering FREE services a few of which are:
Job posting (local, regional and national)
Access to internet job banks
Qualified career consultants who offer career assessments and workshops to assist unemployed individuals
Referrals to other government funded programs such as wage subsidy, training support and self employment programs etc.
Networking with various organizations to promote the Ladysmith area and businesses
Employment Navigators has been providing quality employment services for the residents, businesses and other community service providers and will continue to be strongly connected with all sectors, allowing for the collection of local labour market information and employment networking for clients.
In recent years, Employment Navigators has increased its support to local employers as an active conduit of linking employers and prospective employees in our area, along with being actively involved in local organizations which support increased employment and business growth.
If you would like more information on Employment Navigators and the services we offer, please contact our office at (250) 245-7134 or visit us at our website @ www.employmentnavigators.com. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Funded in whole or part through the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement.
Submitted by: Jack Tieleman Global Vocational Services
The Wage Subsidy Program is designed to assist eligible individuals in gaining on-site work experience which will lead to continued employment upon completion of the contract.
The contract arrangement establishes a partial reimbursement of wages to the employer while the individual learns new skills through supervised instruction. The employer is able to offset labour costs and benefit from a capable employee.
Note: Employers must apply and receive approval before hiring the participant.
Objectives
To assist employers in offsetting the cost associated with hiring new employees and developing their skills in order to create long-term employment opportunities.
To assist unemployed persons in gaining employment where they can build on their existing skills or develop new ones.
Who We Are
We are a private company contracted by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to deliver the wage subsidy program.
Our staff is located in Parksville, Nanaimo and Duncan and they are trained in job development and employer/employee relationships.
Who Is Eligible
Unemployed individuals:
who are currently receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. OR
whose EI benefit period ended within the last three (3) years. OR
who received EI Maternity or Parental benefits within the past five (5) years and are now returning to the work force.
Eligible Employers
Employers who are registered with Canada Customs and Revenue Canada for the payment of source deductions and with WCB and who are:
Businesses
Non – Profit Organizations
Municipal Governments
Bans / Tribal Councils
Public and Educational Institutions
Steps for the Client
The client needs to create a “Return To Work Action Plan”
Client gets refered to the Wage Subsidy Program where the client will need to do an eligibility check and fill out some paper work before starting the job. The timeline for the application process is approximately 72 hours.
If the client has an employer in mind, then he/she can ask the employer to contact Global Vocational Services to request participation in the program.
Steps for the Employer
An employer contacts one of our offices and asks to speak to a Job Development Coordinator.
Either the employer has a potential employee in mind or would like us to post a position.
The employer would then need to fill out some paperwork and this must be completed before the participant starts work. The timeline f or the application process is approximately 72 hours.
The employer and the Job Development Coordinator negotiate a wage reimbursement percentage and the length of the contract based on the amount of skill development the participant requires.
The minimum number of hours the employer must offer the participant is 30 per week.
We reimburse the agreed upon percent of the wage on a monthly basis and our commitment is to have the cheque out of our office within five working days of receiving the claim.
Upon completion of the claim, the employer is asked to submit a short survey regarding their experiences with the program. The survey will be provided.
Note: Paperwork and procedures have been streamlined to ensure an efficient and timely development of the Wage Subsidy contract and reimbursement of claims.
The Job Development Coordinator will assist and support both the employer and the participant with the necessary documents.
Contract Parameters
The duration and percentage of reimbursement of each contract is determined by the skill development needs of the participant.
Hourly wages must meet industry standards.
Jack Tieleman
Job Development Coordinator
Global Vocational Services
#101-155 Skinner Street
Nanaimo BC V9R 5E8
P: (250) 753-3667
F: (250) 753-3676
