Alberta Pre-Symposium Paper
for
Working Connections: Pan-Canadian Symposium on
Career Development, Lifelong Learning and
Workforce Development
Submitted by the Alberta “Working Connections” Team:
Susan Williams, Assistant Deputy Minister, Alberta Human Resources and Employment
Karen Fetterly, Alberta Learning
Linda Willis, Alberta Human Resources and Employment
Colleen Smith, Career Development Association of Alberta
Patti Henley, Alberta TechPrep
Shirley McBride, McBride Career Group Inc.
Kris Magnusson, University of Lethbridge
Don Grygus, Alberta Pacific Forest Industries
Brian McCready, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
October 2003
Alberta Pre-Symposium Paper
Working Connections: A Pan-Canadian Symposium on Career Development,
Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development
1. Profile of Career Development Services in Alberta
Many of the career practitioners working in Alberta today proudly
recall the history of career development in the province, going back as
far as the mid-1970s. Through the 80s and 90s, Alberta built a strong
career development infrastructure with support from the Career
Development Action Group, and the Department that was then called
Alberta Career Development and Employment. 1
Today, the Departments of Human Resources and Employment, and
Learning, working with many stakeholders and partners, continue to
support and build Alberta’s capacity in career development. In 2004,
over 700 career practitioners will attend the tenth year of Building
Tomorrow Today, an annual consultation for career practitioners in
Alberta. Over 300 career practitioners are members of the Career
Development Association of Alberta, and four post-secondary
institutions in Alberta offer certificate programs in career
development.
The Alberta career development infrastructure includes: labour market
information centers located around the province; broadly available
career counselling expertise; a call-in hot-line; publications and
materials; programming for the general public, targeted populations,
and employers; a strong and diverse non-governmental career
development sector; compulsory career and life management
curriculum in Alberta schools; labour market analysis and forecasting;
professional development for career practitioners; and practitioner
certification requirements based on defined competencies.
Over the past ten years, government reform has presented challenges.
Change has been constant: budget reductions, the 1993 Welfare
Reform initiative, the 1996 Labour Market Development Agreement,
re-structuring of government ministries, and the introduction of
business planning and performance measures.
In 1997, the Alberta government proclaimed the importance of human
resource development for economic prosperity, and the need for cross1
The Action Group membership included post-secondary institutions, community agencies, federal and
provincial government departments, career practitioners and educators.
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Ministry approaches, in a cross-government strategy document entitled
People and Prosperity. The principles articulated in that document are
reflected in the many career development initiatives today that involve
multiple stakeholders working together, including inter-Departmental
initiatives in the areas of: lifelong learning, youth career development
and employment, children and youth at risk, low-income Albertans,
Aboriginals, immigrants, and people with disabilities.2
Two recent Alberta Symposia, as well as other government
consultations, reviews, and performance measures indicate the
ongoing need for and value of programming in career development,
lifelong learning, and workforce development.3 The ongoing
challenge is to meet these needs and achieve the desired outcomes
within the realities of Alberta’s commitment to fiscal restraint.
2. Career development services in Alberta—strengths
and challenges
EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
Service delivery. Alberta Human Resources and Employment
provides service delivery through six Regions that respond to local
needs, priorities, and stakeholders. Services are provided in each
Region by public post-secondary institutions, private colleges,
contracted agencies, and AHRE delivery staff. Funding support is for
contracted program delivery, workplace training, or tuition, books, and
living allowances.
Career development centres have been co-located with federal
employment services (15 locations) and/or have been co-located with
social assistance services in many communities. Forty communities
have a Labour Market Information Centre (LMIC) supported by
publications and other resources developed by Alberta (approximately
800,000 products distributed/year), the information hot-line (over
30,000 calls per year), career counsellors (over 40,000 sessions/year),
a comprehensive web-site (over 1.4 million user sessions/year), and
Initiatives include: the Annual Minister’s Forum on Lifelong Learning (since 1995); the Alberta Youth
Employment Strategy (1998); the MLA Committee on Lifelong Learning (1999), the Alberta Children’s
and Youth Initiative (1999); the MLA Committee to Review Low-Income Programs (2001); Defining the
Path, Alberta Human Resources and Employment Aboriginal Strategy (2002); report of the Minister’s
Employability Council for people with disabilities (2002); inter-Departmental work on meeting the needs
of foreign-trained professionals and trades people (2002).
3
Alberta Symposia for policy makers, career practitioners, and employers were held in 2002 and 2003.
Three priority action areas were identified: strengthening research and evaluation, moving toward a
common language, and meeting the needs of marginalized groups.
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2
Careers in Motion (a mobile Labour Market Information Centre).
Over 1.3 million client services were recorded by LMICs in
2002/2003.
Contracted programs and services. Regional contract managers
develop requests for proposals to provide employment-related services
according to terms of reference. Non-profit, private, and institutional
organizations respond. Contractors are paid through fee-for-service
contracts that include compensation according to the achievement of
target results, and client results are verified by a third party survey (3month and 6-month follow-up). A new client and contract
management information system will soon be implemented.
Skills Investment Strategy. A new Skills Investment Strategy was
developed in 2002/2003 for adult training and employment programs
funded by Alberta Human Resources and Employment (following a
policy review and assessment in 2000-2001). New directions for the
next three to five years are: consolidated program streams (nineteen
previous programs are now consolidated into four), increased part-time
training and options for the working poor, stronger linkages with the
labour market and employers, and more training in occupations of
labour shortage.
Challenges:

Determining the optimal alignment of regional delivery
versus provincial corporate roles and responsibilities.

Improving service delivery through approaches to client
assessment, referral, staffing, and key messaging.

Determining priority needs and service gaps.

Assessing cost/benefit and impact of services at the
individual service provider and provincial levels.

Implementing the new Skills Investment Strategy over the
next two years.
POST-SECONDARY
Employment focus. Alberta’s post-secondary sector has become
increasingly employment focused and entrepreneurial as a result of:
the introduction of Key Performance Indicators in 1998; support for
expanding in labour shortage areas (Access Fund); and broad-based
reductions in government funding; increased autonomy for Colleges
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(Board governance structure replaced direct reporting to government).
Institutions provide a wide range of career services to existing and
potential students, including prior learning assessment, course
information and selection, career counselling, financial assistance, and
job finding.
Academic Upgrading. The Skills Development Program, through
Alberta Human Resources and Employment, provides tuition and
living expenses for eligible clients to work toward gaining prerequisites for employment and training. A recent review of this
program resulted in more emphasis on occupational skills training, and
shorter timeframes for program completion.
Challenges:

Implementing accountability mechanisms that are most
appropriate for employment-related, tuition-based
academic upgrading programming delivered by institutions.

Providing affordable access by managing the cost of
education to students; meeting demand with sufficient
capacity; and implementing prior learning assessment and
recognition.
K-12 SYSTEM
Innovation. Alberta’s K-12 curriculum defines required learning
outcomes for career development beginning in Grade 7. A Career and
Life Management Course (CALM) is required for high school
graduation, including the development of a portfolio. The CALM
curriculum was revamped in 2002; a comprehensive career
development system has been introduced (teaching guide, specified
learning outcomes across the curriculum, learning materials
identified), and work on a career development policy has begun.
Areas of innovation include: Tech Prep (a recognized high school
credential based on career-focused education and off-campus
learning); third party or in-house career experts providing career
services to schools across a School Division; Career Pathways
(Calgary Board of Education’s initiative to increase linkages between
education and work); Registered Apprenticeship Program (early
enrollment in apprenticeship); the Integrated Occupational Program (a
job-oriented stream for high school students); and career and
technology courses for high school students (modules for credit
including work experience).
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Many information resources support career development for students
in the K-12 system, including the Alberta Learning Information
Service (ALIS) web site, Alberta-specific occupational profiles, and
post-secondary information. A review of ALIS every two years
gathers information from users for developing the ALIS three-year
business plan. In 2001-2002, over 1200 users provided input on ALIS
as part of its review and planning process.
Overall future direction in Alberta’s K-12 system has been informed
by the recently released results of Alberta’s Commission on
Learning, an initiative undertaken as a result of the labour dispute
with the Alberta Teacher’s Association in spring 2002.4
Challenges:





Reducing high school dropout rates.
Normalizing the current emphasis on university education.
Achieving province-wide excellence in career services to
all students
Ensuring time and expertise is dedicated to career
development education in a system where many topics vie
for attention, and where training in career education is
limited.
After-high-school transitions to post-secondary education
or to work.
FOCUS ON YOUTH
Alberta as well as the federal government provides support for
unemployed youth and youth at risk in Alberta. Alberta’s Youth
Employment Strategy of 1999, developed to guide the work of key
Departments, was revised in 2003. Youth service centers called Youth
Connections are now in 39 communities across Alberta. Other key
initiatives have been the promotion of trades careers to high school
students (Careers: The Next Generation, the Registered
Apprenticeship Program, Skills Canada Alberta, and Trade Up); a
conference for at-risk youth (Career Craze, 2002); Careers in Motion
(a mobile information centre); and a worksite safety program for
youth.
4
Recommendation #6 of the Commission’s report reads in part: Maintain and
continuously improve Alberta's comprehensive and balanced curriculum with: (b)
Opportunities for students to gain an appreciation of the fine arts, learn languages
in addition to English, maintain active and healthy lifestyles, explore emerging
careers, and develop specific career-related skills.
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Challenges:

Coordinating the work of the federal and provincial
governments.

Identifying gaps and overlaps in services for youth.

Increasing awareness of products and services available.
TRANSITIONS
Alberta has many programs that help people manage transitions.
Some are:
1. Bridging programs for professional immigrants, such as
Engineers.
2. Pre-trades programming including English as a Second
Language and literacy for the Trades.
3. Employment-oriented programs for people on social
assistance and Employment Insurance that can include
work experience, life and employability skills, specific
occupational training, wage support for employers to train
on the job, self-employment assistance, job placement,
workshops. (over 40,000 participants in these programs in
2002/03).
4. Tuition and living allowance for low-income people who
lack skills for employment and want to pursue studies at an
approved educational institution in academic upgrading,
literacy, English as a Second Language, life management,
pre-careers training, or integrated training (a combination
of the previous).
5. Information and publications, workshops, counselling.
Selected new publications are: Looking for Work for adults
with low literacy; Seekers and Storytellers featuring
Aboriginal role models; A Guide to Midlife Career Moves.5
6. Financial support for social assistance clients (family
maintenance and health benefit initiatives). New
legislation, Bill 32 (the Income and Employment Supports
Act), introduced in March 2003, will establish a new
program and benefit structure, and additional building
blocks of support.
5
For more publications, please see: www.alis.gov.ab.ca/careershop
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7. Targeted programming for people with disabilities, for
youth, for immigrants, for Aboriginal and First Nations
people, and for older workers (see other sections).
Challenges:

Client movement from program to program or back onto
social assistance.

Identifying gaps and evaluating programs.

Developing meaningful performance indicators.

Providing programming to Albertans who do not qualify as
EI or SFI (social assistance) eligible.
WORKPLACE-BASED INITIATIVES
Alberta’s private sector is engaged in many different ways in
developing a workforce for social and economic development in the
province.
Selected initiatives are:
1. Employers work with trainers and educators to develop
courses of study, employment programs, individualized
training opportunities, and to address labour shortages
(Alberta Construction Association’s Trade Up initiative,
Job Safety program for youth, Skills Canada, Effective
Reading in Context Program are but a few examples).
2. Resources are produced to assist employers, such as the
recent: Finders and Keepers: Recruitment and Retention
Strategies, and an employer’s handbook for hiring people
with disabilities.
3. The new Skills Investment Strategy will support more
individuals in the pursuit of part-time learning
opportunities, increasing accessibility of education and
training opportunities to those who work.
4. Community-based programs continue to be funded through
the Community Adult Learning Program, including the
Volunteer Tutor Adult Literacy Service. Many Albertans
take these courses for work-related reasons.
5. A wide range of publications and information are available
for all Albertans.
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6. Industry associations or ad hoc industry-driven groups are
supported to identify human resource issues and strategies,
particularly in the areas of: literacy (food processing,
construction, tourism, truck drivers); where skills shortages
are projected; and where workforce adjustment programs
are needed (layoffs). The Alberta Workforce Essential
Skills Committee is a multi-stakeholder, industry-led group
that leads projects to develop the literacy skills of the
workforce.
7. Colleges work closely with the private sector to identify
specific training and education needs, developing
customized training to meet those needs. Colleges are also
actively promoting their education and training courses to
the fee-paying general public.
8. The K-12 system has a variety of programs with direct
employer involvement.
3. Lifelong learning challenges
A Minister’s Committee on Lifelong Learning (1999) recommended
that further promotion of lifelong learning in Alberta would be
beneficial. Challenges for increasing participation include:
1. Accessibility of education and training, including
affordability, location, time, awareness, use of technology,
available seats, and prior learning assessment and
recognition.
2. Linking education and training more closely with
employers, labour shortages, and labour market trends.
4. Workforce development challenges
Alberta continues to receive the largest number of inter-provincial net
migrants of all provinces, and enjoys the second lowest unemployment
rate after Manitoba. The main workforce development challenge
facing Alberta at this time is labour shortages: “Alberta is
experiencing a tight labour market which is causing a shortage of
skilled workers in many occupations. Unemployment rates in some
occupations have declined to as low as 0.3%. The challenge is to
maximize labour force participation to ensure the inclusion of groups
such as people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, immigrants and
youth” (2003-2006 Business Plan). In 2001/2002, twenty-two
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occupational groupings had less than 3% unemployment, indicating a
skill shortage situation.
In response to this challenge, the Labour Force Planning Committee,
comprised of ten different Ministries, developed a strategy paper
entitled Prepared for Growth: Building Alberta’s Labour Supply
(2001). Its three main strategies are:
 Increase the skill and knowledge levels of Albertans.
 Increase the mobility of labour in Canada.
 Increase the number of immigrants to Alberta.
Alberta is working to improve its services to foreign-trained
professionals and trades people to expedite their path to full
employment; and a new Provincial Nominee Program is expediting the
entry of immigrants in labour shortage areas.
Other initiatives that aim to increase the participation of youth,
Aboriginal Albertans, and people with disabilities in the labour market
include: a First Nations Training-to-Employment Partnership Program
(15 First Nations Training to Employment projects were initiated in
Alberta in 2002-2003); budget increases for the Disability Related
Employment Supports Program in 2001/2002; implementation of
recommendations of the Minister’s Employability Council
(2001/2002, for people with disabilities); a planned review of the
Assured Income Support for the Handicapped Program and
implementation of the recommendations of the MLA Committee to
Review Low-Income Programs.
5. Strategies for stakeholders
The working group members identified the following strategies that
could be adopted by stakeholders to improve career development
services:
1. Improve communication and information linkages between
all stakeholders, particularly between front-line service
delivery and service providers, and senior policy-makers.
This may require formalized structures for facilitating
information exchange at key points in time, particularly
prior to implementing policy and program changes.
2. Take more proactive approaches, and responsibility, to
develop creative solutions to problems.
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3. Resolve jurisdictional issues; work together effectively.
4. Develop meaningful information gathering strategies
(measures, outcomes, evaluation) to demonstrate the effect
of career development programs and services.
5. Provide more supports for individuals assessing options
that are not post-secondary education. Encourage parents
to support their children in considering a wide range of
options for careers and further education, beyond
traditional post-secondary education.
6. Further engage employers in developing solutions to labour
market challenges.
7. Identify ways to expand best practices province-wide.
8. Ensure resources are in place at the service delivery level to
implement policy (for example, expertise in the career
development field may be needed in the secondary system).
9. Continue to address the differing needs of urban vs. rural
communities.
10. Apply technology in creative ways.
6. Most important issues to be addressed in Alberta
The working group members identified the following “most pressing
issues” in Alberta at this time:
1. Understanding—need to increase understanding of the
needs of various clients groups, what works, and the cost
and benefit of various interventions. We have more
information than we ever had before, but we do not always
have better understanding. Feedback from learners and
clients is particularly important for gauging impact.
2. Resource allocation—need to continually evaluate the
allocation of resources to determine the most effective mix
of programs and services, considering the many client
groups to be served, those most in need, as well as other
Albertans.
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3. Policy—need to develop and use policy effectively to
respond to political priorities, guide service delivery, effect
system-wide improvement in career development services,
and develop common understanding between policy
makers, practitioners, and employers.
4. Accountability—need to balance various approaches to
accountability including: self-evaluation, monitoring,
research and evaluation; measures and performance
indicators; standards, guidelines and procedures; and
communication about priorities, requirements and
expectations.
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