The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Shelley Russell

Although Alberta's unemployment rate has dropped to just over seven per cent, its youth unemployment rate still hovers around 13 per cent. The government wants to make sure 15- to 24-year-olds are not left behind as the economy expands.

Preparing youth for work is one of the goals of People and Prosperity, the province's new human-resource strategy. Advanced Education and Career Development Minister Jack Ady released the strategy five days before the election was called.

"Young adults can have difficulty attaching to the labour force, and they are often most at risk of losing employment when the economy changes. This risk is particularly high for the significant number of Alberta high school students who go directly into the workplace without further education. Frequently, these individuals later find that their skills no longer match job requirements and they need to upgrade their skills in order to get another job," the strategy says.

The government plans to tackle the problem by starting a program for youth who have left high school but do not have the skills or education to find jobs. Youth Connections will offer career information and consulting, learning and employability programming, and work experience.

The government will also support CAREERS: The Next Generation Foundation. Led by the private sector, CAREERS prepares high school students for the workforce by giving them meaningful work experience, especially in trades and technologies, and making them aware of career choices.

Other initiatives already underway include the new Career and Technology Studies curriculum, high school outreach programs and the Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Apprenticeship figures in another goal of People and Prosperity—promoting continuous learning for economic opportunity. Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development and the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board are asking Albertans how to raise awareness of career opportunities in trades and occupations, especially among high school students. They also want to know how to make formal instruction more responsive to apprentice, trainee and employer needs. A summary of the consultations will be available later this year.

"The human resource strategy focuses our efforts to ensure a prosperous economy, thriving communities and people who feel confident about the future. The premier has directed us to devote as much attention to helping people reach their potential as we did to balancing the budget over the last four years," Ady said.

People and Prosperity was developed by 11 government departments in consultation with the Alberta Economic Development Authority and learning providers. The goals and actions will become part of departments' business plans.

Actions designed to help youth

• Alberta Education will revise its policy on career counselling to encourage students to explore career options.
• Alberta Education and Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development will develop a Youth Careers program in partnership with industry and postsecondary institutions.The program will combine school and worksite learning to help students develop employability skills.
• Alberta Labour and Alberta Treasury will bring together stakeholders to look at ways to improve benefit and pension coverage for Albertans in the traditional and nontraditional workforce. They will also review legislation on employer-sponsored pension plans.
• Alberta Education and Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development will develop a "learning passport" to track and recognize learner and worker competencies.
• Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development will implement the labor-mobility provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade to make it easier for workers from other provinces to get jobs in Alberta. The province will remove residency requirements for registration and employment and any licensing and certification requirements that are not based on worker competency.