Workforce Development Month 2016
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Working as One: A Workforce Development Strategy for Toronto was endorsed by Toronto City Council
in March 2012.
The strategy reflects the City's commitment to build a responsive and co-ordinated employment
system to better serve and better connect employers and job seekers across the city.
Building on this commitment, in October 2012, the City officially launched Workforce Development Week.
This week has since expanded to a whole month.
Workforce development activities take place throughout the year, however during Workforce
Development Month these activities are showcased and celebrated across the City of Toronto.
This month not only raises awareness of workforce development in general, it serves as a platform
to spotlight the many City employment services available to our residents and recognizes
the City's many successful partnerships with employers, community agencies and other orders
of government.
In 2016, look forward to events such as the annual City Career Information Event, which
draws an average of 1000 attendees to learn about City jobs and how to apply for them,
and the Yorkdale Job Fair, an ongoing recruitment effort which has connected hundreds of job
seekers to multiple Yorkdale retailers over the past few years.
Four key themes guide the direction for Workforce Development Month events.
Sector-based events enhance, expand and strengthen relationships with employers in specific sectors,
and target job seekers who are interested in learning more about industry-specific employment
opportunities, education and training supports.
Population-specific events focus on particular groups of job seekers such as mature workers,
youth, Ontario Works clients or newcomers, and are customized to serve the unique needs
of each population.
Geography-based events take place in communities across Toronto and help engage residents to
connect with local services and programs while building stronger neighbourhoods.
Entrepreneurship Development events recognize the need to support small business start-ups
and self-employment.
This year, along with outreach strategies that have proven successful in the past, we're
also introducing some new approaches to spread the news about Workforce Development Month.
One high-profile medium we're introducing is the Workforce Development Transit Ad campaign.
With 75 bus shelter displays across the city, our bold visuals featuring successful client
stories will be accompanied by a strong call to action to visit Toronto's website to learn more.
Ads are targeted to both residents and employers and will be on display from October 3rd to
October 31st.
Another strategy we're excited about involves Toronto Public Services staff promoting Workforce
Development Month to city residents.
Experience has demonstrated that people are most likely to attend an event if they've
been personally invited and Workforce Development Month marketing materials will be shared across
Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Toronto Public Library and Civic Centre locations.
Every year we market this special month online using the toronto.ca/workone event calendar
where event details are published and by sharing information through the City's social media channels.
We have a line-up of success stories we'll be spotlighting throughout the month, and
everyone is invited to join the conversation using our hashtag #workoneTO.
Depending the target audience, other forms of outreach and engagement include media and
press events as well as mail and telephone outreach to residents and private sector employers.
All City Councillors will be provided with detailed information about Workforce Development
Month events happening across the city.
Councillors can reach out to the local city staff if they want to learn more about what's
happening in their specific communities.
There are many ways you can help us reach as many employers and Toronto residents as
possible to make this month a success and provide valuable workforce development information.
For instance you can:
Share the Toronto Workone website (toronto.ca/workone) on your websites and communication materials.
Follow us at @TorontoESS on Twitter and retweet or comment using the hashtag #workoneTO.
Follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/torontoess) and share, comment or like relevant posts.
Finally, come out and join us at our events!
Workforce Development Month celebrates Toronto as a global centre for business, finance,
arts and culture and connects our diverse population with the wide range of opportunities
that exist in our city.
It also aims to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to increase awareness about our services,
to better showcase our successes and the impact of our work and to communicate more effectively
with our clients, residents and employers.
Workforce Development Month.
Supporting people.
Connecting Businesses, Strengthening Communities.