The Government of Ontario announced a $190 million investment over three years to support the Career Kick-Start Strategy. The announcement is an affirmative step for Ontario college students; it will enable them to take part in meaningful work that will help them gain the skills and experience needed to enter the workforce after they graduate.
From 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, over 60 per cent of students that participated in Work Integrated Learning (WIL) were employed in a related or partially-related field of study compared to over 45 per cent of students that did not.*
College Student Alliance (CSA) is pleased to have taken part in Ministry roundtable discussion and the Premier’s Highly Skilled Workforce Expert Panel where we advocated for the importance of experiential learning. The college sector is a leader in the field of WIL, and as an organization, CSA embraces the opportunity to share the experiences of Ontario’s college students with the rest of the sector.
We look forward to working with the Ministry and institutions to ensure reporting mechanisms for initiatives related to this fund support WIL. Reporting mechanisms must be enhanced to include data on WIL opportunities, delivery, expected outputs, actual outputs, intended outcomes, actual outcomes, employment rates, etc.
Background: Career Kick-Start is designed to create more opportunities for high school students, post-secondary education (PSE) students, and recent graduates to build their resume and skills. Initiatives specific to PSE include:
A new Career Ready Fund to help universities, colleges and employers create career-oriented learning experiences and related supports for students and recent graduates.
Supporting more than 3,000 high-impact, industry-led research internships through the Mitacs Accelerate program and 140 additional internships and fellowships per year in the TalentEdge program.
Providing all college and university students free access to high-quality, skills-focused online learning through Lynda.com.
Find more information on the announcement here: http://bit.ly/2oqfKx6.
