P2P

Passport to Prosperity

What is Passport to Prosperity?

'For more than a decade, the Passport to Prosperity campaign has supported educators and employers in developing experiential learning opportunities for high school students. Passport to Prosperity is a province wide campaign that seeks to provide communities with the tools and resources to respond to their local workforce development needs and contribute to the growth of the local economy. Today, more than 40,000 employers across Ontario have recognized the value of incorporating student programs into their human resources strategies.'
From: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/job/passport/index.html

For your information:

Click here for FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Click here to link to program information sheet.
Click here for complete description of the range of experiential learning opportunities

To complete your registration on EmployerRegistry, click here.

Passport to Prosperity is a Province wide initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Education designed to increase employer involvement in school-to-work programs for secondary school students. In the Greater Toronto Area, The Learning Partnership delivers Passport to Prosperity to the ten member School Boards.

Passport to Prosperity is proud to work with and under the direction of our Steering Committee. We are grateful to this committed group of volunteers from business, industry, associations, post-secondary institutions and the 10 GTA school boards.
Click here to learn more about our Steering Committee,
meeting dates and presentations.

Passport to Prosperity gives students the opportunity to explore different careers and to prepare themselves for the critical transition from the classroom to the world of work by providing work experiences, career talks, workplace tours, job shadowing, apprenticeship and co-operative education placements.

Having a work experience in high school enables students to:

Test-drive a career and make better-informed career choices
Learn about a specific industry, career and/or career sector
Begin to accumulate knowledge necessary for work in a specific industry or workplace
Gain necessary workplace skills and experience
Gain satisfaction from doing “real world” work, working with professionals in the field and making contributions to an organization and work team
Gain self-confidence and belief in one’s own potential
Begin to establish valuable networks with future employers and workplaces
Accumulate workplace hours for future apprenticeship programs and post-secondary programs

How can an organization get involved in Passport to Prosperity initiatives?

Organizations can offer many different types of work experiences to high school students. Co-op and short-term work experiences are in particular demand. By getting involved, you can expose students to your organization and your industry sector at a time when students are starting to make long-term career choices.

Click here to view a list of the GTA businesses who have recognized the opportunity to shape their future workforce by signing on to the Employer Registry.

Benefit for Employers

Changing demographics are straining Ontario’s supply of skilled workers across virtually all industries and sectors. Businesses and organizations of all sizes and in all sectors are searching for new ways to attract, train and retain new employees.

Through experiential learning opportunities employers have the opportunity to meet and train their future workforce, while providing students with real-life experience in the workplace. Employer benefits include:

Experiential programs offer employers a cost-effective solution to recruiting, training and retaining younger workers
Students get on-the-job training for those who are moving from school directly to the workforce; their training is complete before they’re on your payroll
Experiential learning programs provide employers with an early opportunity to engage Ontario’s future workers, expose them to career options they may not have known about or considered and help them acquire the specific workplace skills and experience businesses seek
Students can bring a breath of fresh air to your business…and a new perspective or way of approaching a challenge
Involving students in your workplace helps your current employees develop skills for managing a multi-generational workforce-skills they’ll continue to need as our current workforce ages and retires
Current employees get more engaged in their work.

Benefit for students

Having a work experience in high school enables students to:

Learn about a specific industry, career and/or career sector
Begin to accumulate knowledge necessary for work in a specific industry or workplace
Gain necessary workplace skills and experience
Test-drive a career and make better-informed career choices
Gain satisfaction from doing “real world” work, working with professionals in the field and making contributions to an organization and work team
Gain self-confidence and belief in one’s own potential
Begin to establish valuable networks with future employers and workplaces
Accumulate workplace hours for future apprenticeship programs and post-secondary programs

Over the summer months many NEW employers have signed on to the Employer Registry to offer a wide range of experiential learning opportunities for students in the GTA; educators can search for student opportunities by registering on EmployerRegistry.ca.

For GTA students there are nearly 2 000 employers and 3 000 opportunities listed on EmployerRegistry.ca.