Passport to Prosperity

About our program:

Passport to Prosperity is an Ontario-wide initiative to increase employer involvement in experiential learning opportunities for the benefit of high school students. These opportunities provide students with a chance to explore career options, gain valuable work experience and advance their skills. Employer’s can make an impact by shaping their future workforce through connecting with their local talent pool.

The Passport to Prosperity initiative supports various school-to-work opportunities at the Renfrew County District School Board, Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, Conseil des écoles Catholique de lanque francaise du Centre-Est (Jeanne Lajoie) and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’est l’Ontario (L’Equinoxe)

We need employers to participate in the following:

• Career Talks ( Speakers Bureau)
• Workplace Tours
• Job Shadowing  and Career Mentoring
• Short-Term Work Experience
• Co-operative Education & OYAP Placements
• E Co-op Educational Opportunities
• Career Fairs and Job Fairs
• Option Skilled Trades & Information Fair

The Passport to Prosperity program is about employers helping high school students make the transition from school to work. For these students, choosing their post secondary destination is a critical decision point, but if they have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience while still in school, they will be better prepared to make the transition from high school to work, apprenticeship training, college or university. Passport to Prosperity is funded by the Government of Ontario.

The success of co-op programs is employer participation. All employers in Renfrew County are encouraged to sign on to the new Provincial Employer Registry (EmployerRegistry.ca) This registry will greatly assist co-op teachers in finding placement opportunities for students.

Benefits for Students

• 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

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 workers of the future, while providing students with real-life experience in the workplace.

Benefits include:

• 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. 
• Experiential programs offer employers a cost-effective solution to recruiting, training and retaining younger workers 
• 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-skill they’ll continue to need as our current workforce ages and retirees
• Current employees get more engaged in their work.
• Students get on-the-job training for those who are moving from school directly to the workforce; their training is complete before they are on the payroll.

CONTACT US

Passport to Prosperity Renfrew County

Michelle Lariviere-Ranger ~ Coordinator
315 Pembroke Street East
Pembroke, ON   K8A 3K
Phone : 613-735-4700 ext 2641
Fax : 613-735-8805
E-mail : larivim@algonquincollege.com