Earlier this year, the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development introduced the Sector Partnership Planning Grant (SPPG). The objective of the grant is to develop strategies that align job training with the skills needed for a particular industry or sector to grow and compete in the new economy. Participants in the SPPG include employers, training groups, and employment and workforce planning agencies. The Metcalf Foundation has been contracted to provide technical assistance.

Between October and December 2017, the Foundation is delivering a range of supports. These include developing an extensive web-based toolkit, webinars and coaching calls, and an intensive one-day workshop will be offered in Toronto.

“Investing in partnership development and strategic planning is critical to advancing sector focused workforce development,” says Adriana Beemans, Metcalf Inclusive Local Economies Program Director. “It’s very exciting to see funding out there for this kind of work.”

This initiative dovetails nicely with Metcalf’s own Toronto Sector Skills Academy, a program that originated out of the Aspen Institute. The first cohort of TSSA Fellows recently finished their program. “It’s rewarding to see that nine of the TSSA Fellows have received funding from the SPPG,” says Beemans. “It enables them to apply what they learnt in the TSSA, continue to work together, and contribute to building an innovative practice to better serve low-income job seekers.”

More information on the Sector Partnership Planning Grant can be found at the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development.