This is the EmployerRegistry.ca local site for the Windsor/Essex region, maintained by the

South Western Ontario Industry Education Council.  

Teachers are encouraged to join the EmployerRegistry to access many great opportunities for their students.

Employers are encouraged to provide experiential learning opportunities for students on employerregistry.ca

Please visit our partners in workforce development...

The mandate is to plan, facilitate and advocate for regional workforce development, defined as the development, retention, and recruitment of a wide range of skilled workers to meet the current and future economic and social development needs of Windsor-Essex. They identify where the jobs of the future will be  and ensure the Windsor-Essex workforce can meet these demands, which act as a catalyst in attracting new industries and businesses to the region.

Dear Teachers:
As you prepare for the new school year I would like to share some resources with you. Just click on the underlined link.

The first is a list of all the Specialist High Skills Majors being offered in Windsor Essex region and the schools that are hosting them. Specialist High Skills Majors let students focus on a career path that matches their skills and interests while meeting the requirements of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD. Students receive the SHSM's seal on their diploma when they:

• complete a specific bundle of 8-10 courses in the student's selected field
• earn valuable industry certifications including first aid and CPR qualifications
• gain important skills on the job with employers.

The second is the updated list of employers and opportunities available. These are local businesses and people who want to become engaged with schools and students and are willing to offer on-site opportunities or are willing to visit your classroom. Please contact them and make them feel needed and supplement your curriculum.
These employers and opportunities are uploaded to the Employer Registry and teachers are invited to register and access all the information found there.

Thirdly, Canada South Science City is a wonderful place for students and supports the Elementary School curriculum. Not only are they looking for elementary tour groups but are most certainly providing numerous opportunities for volunteers as well as Co-op placements for high school students...and they are BILINGUAL!!

Passport to Prosperity will continue to provide support to all elementary and secondary teachers through employer recruitment, experiential learning opportunities and partnership events such as our upcoming Grade8/9 girls dinner, hospital job shadow, Kinsmen Forum and career coaching workshop to name a few.

Check out feature articles on our Employer Registry members:

Ivana White, owner of International Art Designs

Employer Champions "MSJ Auto": A story of passion and dedication to our future generation

FINAL REPORT ON EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING WEEK:

The province-wide observance of the successful connections made between employers and students via hands-on learning opportunities. 

In celebration of Experiential Learning Week the local Passport to Prosperity program led by the Southwestern Ontario Industry Education Council organized a showcase of Hospitality and Tourism, Technology and Communications focused tours. Visiting eight sites in three days, both students and teachers took an in-depth look at the educational and occupational opportunities existing in Windsor-Essex.

Starting off the week, fifty students from Assumption College Catholic High School, including those from the specialist high school major program focused on Hospitality and Tourism, gathered at the Holiday Inn & Suites on Huron Church Road. 

Lynnette Bain, vice-president of tourism programs and development at  Tourism Windsor Essex Peele Island, welcomed the students, while they were treated to a hot buffet breakfast provided by the in-house upscale restaurant, Grill 55.

Bain discussed her own work history and how she transitioned from hotel manager to her current role with TWEPI.  She cites having a well-rounded education including business, accounting and a broad knowledge base to being successful. She urges everyone, especially those in the industry to have pride in our region and realize everything Windsor-Essex has to offer.

TWEPI is currently focusing on growing it's focus on Heritage and Sports Tourism with the recent reign of the Windsor Spitfires and the upcoming events leading to the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, celebrating 200 years of peace.

Next, students got a behind-the-scenes look with Chef Erno Szabo touring the Grill 55 kitchen, and with Andrea Bondy, front office manager, touring the various operations of the hotel.

Chef Szabo advice to the students was to have an enthusiastic attitude, be hard working and never be late.  He attended culinary school in Budapest, Hungary, where he was born and after running several successful restaurants in Toronto, he eventually moved to Windsor for a cheaper cost of living. Chef Szabo says fulfillment in his line of work comes from the satisfaction of his diners.

Next stop was an exclusive tour of Caesar's Windsor Augustus Conference Centre, with special tour leader Chef Patrick McClary, Director of Culinary, Food and Beverage and overseer of 109 full-time staff, 79 part-time cooks and 75 dishwashers. His kitchen serves on average 1400 people and up to 2000 plated courses on the New Year's Eve banqueted events. 

Chef McClary isn't shy about saying that his job is difficult, "You give your heart and soul on a plate and it gets criticized."

He encourages the students to not be afraid of making mistakes and to be willing to learn and ask questions.  He's benefited from learning recipes two to three different ways, combining his own flair to create his unique style. 

The last stop on the tour, The St. Clair Centre for the Arts Convention and Catering Centre where students learned of the various programs offered and met with current students to discuss unique internship possibilities featured in partnership with the program’s curriculum.

After touring the facility, the students met with Executive Chef, Michael Jimmerfield, who is a graduate of the St. Clair culinary program and general manager, Joe D'Angela.

D'Angela presented the students with the facts, citing Hospitality as a $61-billion industry that employs 82,000 positions in Canada.

"We need well-educated, well-trained employees and you are the future," said D'Angela. 

"The more you understand the industry, the more valuable you are." 

 Read more about the week's events:

Local Teachers learn all things Tech in Windsor-Essex

St. Annes students get communicating with local opportunities

Why your teenager can’t use a hammer

Complaints about a generation of the mechanically challenged

"It's hard not to laugh when Barry Smith starts telling stories about the hapless young workers he has to deal with. Smith, who runs Toronto-area roofing company RoofSmith Canada, tells of one who didn’t come to work because his cat had fleas, and another who jumped off a shed roof, even though he’d just tossed bags of nails into the garbage bin below. But the laughing tapers off when Smith, 46, talks about skills.

'They don’t know how to handle a tool properly,' he says quietly. 'They’re bright kids, but they hold a hammer at the top instead of the bottom, so it takes four swings instead of one to get a nail in. They don’t know how to read the short lines on a tape measure and they’ve never used power tools, which makes you really cautious.' He says they can’t seem to detect the patterns of the work—you rip up part of the roof, that gets thrown down, that goes into the garbage—so they just stand around. 'It can get really frustrating.'

There’s much talk about a coming crisis in the trades—that we simply don’t have enough new recruits to replace an aging workforce. By some estimates, Canada could face a shortfall of up to one million skilled tradespeople by 2020. To address this shortage, the government is funding a variety of incentives to attract young talent and it’s beefing up our apprenticeship training programs—registrations are at an all-time high. But a stumbling block has emerged that’s getting harder to ignore: by all accounts, we have the least handy, most mechanically deficient generation of young people. Ever.

It’s easy to see why."

...Read More

 Watch Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs speak on the value of Skilled Trades