Community and Employer Partnerships
Q and A’s
Q. What is Community and Employer Partnerships (CEP)?
A. CEP is part of the new Employment Program of BC. It is a collaborative and coordinated
network of community organizations and employers who work proactively, strategically and
pragmatically together to increase employment and work experience opportunities in
communities across British Columbia.
The network will facilitate:
 Communication between stakeholders;
 The flow of local labour market information;
 Strategic, coordinated approaches to the investment of support to the community;
 A platform for stakeholders to discuss strategies and solutions to address labour market
needs.
Q. What are the goals of CEP?
A. The goals of the CEP are to:
 Increase employment opportunities for unemployed British Columbians through the use
of partnerships, shared information, technology and innovative practices;
 Bring a stronger focus to the importance of communities and employer partnerships to
identify partnership and innovation opportunities that promote job creation and
employment;
 Support employers to meet human resource needs;
 Help communities and employers indentify and respond to labour market needs.
Q. What is the role of the Ministry for CEP?
A. The Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation is responsible for administering
agreements from the Partnership and Innovation Fund and facilitating local partnerships to best
support local labour markets. There are regional Ministry staff dedicated to manage CEP:
Manager of Community and Employer Partnerships, Team and Contract Leads (CEP TCL) and
Community and Partnership Agents (CEP CAPAs). These positions are the “face” of the Division
in the community, attending community meetings, gathering and sharing labour market and
community information and promoting available programs and funding. Consulting with
stakeholders, CEP staff facilitating local partnerships to best support local labour markets.
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Q. What is the Employment Service Centres (ESC) role under the Community & Employer
Partnership model?
A. The ESC Contractor will:
o Establish an annual Community and Employer Partnership Plan that outlines how
they will engage employers and community in the local Labour market;
o Build on existing capacity and networks to proactively obtain local Labour Market
Information to better support job seekers;
o Regularly share information with other stakeholders about labour market activity;
o Work in partnership to develop innovative labour market practices and respond to
Client and labour market needs;
o Facilitate access to services for employers and community members;
Make appropriate Client referrals to participate in P&I funded agreements that increase
employment opportunities for unemployed British Columbians and improve Client outcomes
Q. What is the Partnership and Innovation Fund?
A. The Partnership and Innovation (P&I) Fund is a collection of four LMDA funding streams:
 Job Creation Partnerships (JCP)
 Labour Market Partnerships (LMP)
 Research and Innovation (R&I)
 Project Based Labour Market Training (PBLMT)
The Ministry is responsible for funding and administering the P&I Fund. The Ministry will
administer and manage the P&I project agreements with community organizations delivering
projects.
The ESC Contractor will play a key role in the Job Creation Partnership program as they will be
responsible for:
 Identifying and referring eligible and suitable EI Clients for project participation
consideration by the JCP Project Agreement Holder;
 Administering Client supports and assessing Client financial need;
 Working collaboratively with JCP Project Agreement Holders to support Client success
and resolve Client issues.
Q. What is the difference between the LMP, JCP, R&I and PBLMT programs?
A. Labour Market Partnership provides financial assistance to organizations to encourage,
support and facilitate addressing labour force issues (imbalances) and human resource planning
activities which are in the public interest. LMP also includes the Employer Sponsored Training
(EST) program that provides eligible employers with financial assistance to support training
activities for employees who would otherwise lose their jobs.
Job Creation Partnership is designed to support projects that enable activities that provide
community benefit and that normally would not take place without project funding, while
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creating jobs that provide unemployed eligible EI Clients with opportunities to gain meaningful
work experience. While project activities should benefit both the Client and the community,
the primary focus must be on helping the Client.
The Research & Innovation program provides funding to community organizations and partners
to undertake research or develop and implement innovative projects (e.g. pilots), processes or
practices that strengthen the understanding of the labour market and helps move more Clients
into sustainable jobs. Research and Innovation uses progressive research and leading edge
innovation to discover better ways to help unemployed British Columbian’s join the labour
force as quickly as possible. It is designed to fund untried and untested solutions to labour
market problems with the goal of creating employment services of the future .
Project Based Labour Market Training is designed to support projects that provide both benefits
to the community and to individuals by providing a combination of on and off the job training
delivered under a project based training model to assist eligible individuals to obtain the skills
they need for employment. Projects enhance participant’s employability skills by providing training
and other supports in a supportive, group environment. Training is supported by a range of activities
which may include counselling, vocational and/or learning assessments, work experience, job search
skills, mentorship, referral to community resources and post-project follow up.
How can I get more information?
You can get more information on Employment and Labour Market Services through the
WorkBC website http://www.staging.workbc.ca/Employers/Run-your-business/Communityand-Employer-Partnerships.aspx or through Enquiry BC.
Enquiry BC is a provincial call centre that provides services to all British Columbia residents, on
behalf of provincial government ministries, Crown corporations and public agencies.
Hours of Operation for Enquiry BC are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Email Enquiry BC at EnquiryBC@gov.bc.ca.
Or Call
Victoria:
250 387-6121
Vancouver:
604 660-2421
Elsewhere in B.C.:
1 800 663-7867
Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD)
Vancouver:
604 775-0303
Elsewhere in B.C.:
1 800 661-8773
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