Organizing a Local Event for Job Developers

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What is the National Networking Day for Job Developers?

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The National Networking Day for Job Developers will be a pan-Canadian opportunity for job developers to gather together in their own communities with other job developers to discuss areas of mutual interest, learn about what each organization does, gather insights into the challenges and unique strategies job developers utilize and develop an understanding of best practices.

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The session will be open to anyone who works with employers to help develop employment opportunities and work placements. Participants will be from:

• Provincially- and federally-funded employment programs

• Colleges and universities

• Secondary schools

• Organizations which support those with personal challenges and diverse abilities

• Settlement and other organizations supporting newcomers

• Francophone language support organizations

• Organizations supporting First Nations, Indigenous Canadians, Metis, and Inuit populations

• Search, placement and temporary-help firms

• Groups assisting survivors of violence and/or abuse

• Organizations supporting women, youth, racialized populations, LGBTQ2S+, mature workers and other populations struggling with under-representation in the labour market

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Our expectation is to help bridge awareness, build contacts and help job developers and other employment professionals speak with one voice in the community.

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What can people expect?

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Our intentions is to host a national event in 20 different communities across Canada with representation in every province. Some portions will be virtual with participants gathered across the country, interacting with each other and making contributions. Other segments will be exclusive to the local group, gathering local insights and sharing personal information.

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The sessions will take place simultaneously, but agendas will be adjusted to account for time zones. The following is a list of schedules in local time:

• Pacific: 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Mountain: 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Central: 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Eastern: 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Atlantic: 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Newfoundland / Labrador: 9:00-5:00

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Each time zone will get it's own introduction from the national moderator and an outline of the goals and objectives of the discussion and will close with personalized insights from the national moderator.

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National discussions will include insights from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Indeed Hiring Lab, Future Skills Centre and the Labour Market Information Council, followed by Q&A.

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Local portions, facilitated with just the group meeting in-person, will include:

• Introductions

• Ice-breakers

• Discussion of local programs

• Networking Time

• Learning segments covering employer engagement; understanding the local labour market; and supporting individuals in achieving sustainable employment outcomes

• Discussion of next-steps moving forward

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In addition to the networking and professional development components, we are also developing a comprehensive national report on job development based on the input of job developers from across the country. All participants will receive a copy and all sponsor organizations will be acknowledged in the report.

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What are sponsor organizations?

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Prior to the official launch of the National Networking Day, we are looking for organizations to sponsor specific towns and communities. This sponsorship will involve providing meeting space; having someone moderate the local segments; and provide refreshments such as coffee, tea and lunch.

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It is estimated that the largest cities in Canada such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal may attract as many as 100 job development and other employer engagement professionals. Smaller cities such as Halifax, Victoria or Medicine Hat may attract 50 participants. Smaller communities such as Fort St. John, Kenora and Charlottetown may attract 10-20 participants.

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What does a sponsor organization need to do?

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An organization agreeing to sponsor a networking event on September 19th will agree to:

• Share information about the event with job development and employer engagement professionals in their community

• Host the session in meeting space they provide and supply a local facilitator

• Provide morning and afternoon refreshments as well as a simple lunch for participants

• Keep attendance

• Link to the national broadcast feed at pre-scheduled intervals for national and time zone presentations

• Facilitate conversations

• Take notes

• Participate in a small number of planning and post-event discussions

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Is there a cost to being a sponsor organization?

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While the sponsor organization takes on the cost of hosting the event, providing refreshments and supplying a staff person to moderate the session, there is no direct charge to be a sponsor organization.

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In exchange the sponsor organization is able to send two staff members to the session free of charge (one or both of whom are the moderators) and they receive a 25% discount on an additional registrations for the Networking Day.

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What are benefits for a sponsor organization?

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As a sponsor of the National Networking Day, the sponsor gets additional exposure on a provincial and national basis, being able to demonstrate for funders and community stakeholders their local leadership in job development excellence.

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Sponsor Organizations will be listed on the website and in all promotional materials as key organizational partners in bringing together this national event intended to reinforcement the legitimacy of job development and employment supports in the business community.

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Is there a cost for participants?

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Given the organizational and time commitments in organizing an event of this scope, there will be a charge for participants but with group and early registration discounts, this charge may be as little as $50 per person.

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What cities do we want to host sessions in?

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We want this event to be valuable to local career development professionals. We're happy to host this session in any community which is able to gather together a group of job development professionals. We feel to be valuable to the participants, a session should have at least 6-12 employer engagement professionals.

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While we're prepared to do a session in nearly any community in Canada, our goal is to partner with Sponsor Organizations in the following communities:

• BC: Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Kelowna

• Alberta: Calgary, Edmonton

• Saskatchewan: Regina, Saskatoon

• Manitoba: Brandon, Winnipeg

• Ontario: Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, Barrie, Windsor, Peterborough, Sudbury, Ottawa

• Quebec: Montreal

• New Brunswick: Moncton, Fredericton

• Prince Edward Island: Charlottetown

• Nova Scotia: Halifax

• Newfoundland and Labrador: St. John's

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How does an organization participate?

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We have an application form set-up on Job Development.org allowing organizations to express the interest in sponsoring an event in particular community. Submitting a form does not commit the organization but also doesn't guarantee they get the community they've selected.

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Sponsor organizations will be selected based on local attachment to the community as well as early interest in sponsorship. When organizations express an interest in sponsorship, we will follow-up by email and telephone to discuss sponsorship.

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When will you launch registration?

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We will be officially launching registration on Monday June 23, 2025 with announcements in the Job Development Pulse and on social media.

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What will the next steps be?

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Once we've identified Sponsorship Partners to host sessions across the county, we will host an online introductory conversation, develop the national schedule for events and discuss ways to make each session unique while still benefiting from the national discourse.

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Where can I get more information?

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For more information, please visit: JobDevelopment.org or email: csaintcyr@labourmarketsolutions.ca

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