Tourism HR Canada is extremely fortunate to have secured three multi-year funded projects that will allow us to continue our global leadership in labour market intelligence, competency development and training, and innovative initiatives to broaden and diversify the potential labour market for tourism.
These projects, funded by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), are strategic initiatives that will build capacity and ensure the Canadian tourism sector has accurate and timely data and the professionals working in tourism jobs are able to access the most relevant and current training available anywhere.
The Tourism HR Canada team is currently developing working committees to assist in ensuring that these projects are driven by industry and other engaged stakeholders and that the resulting programming and resources developed are aligned with what the sector needs to improve its global competitiveness.
This is an initial call for involvement; over the coming months, we will continue to promote and advocate for widespread involvement on each of these initiatives.
Below is a short description of each project, who we’re looking to recruit as committee members, and what is expected of committee members. We have also included specific contact details for each project, should you want additional information.
Your involvement can be as flexible as you need. We are looking for broad, insightful, and strategic input from all committee members, but only to the extent that you have the time and opportunity to participate.
Destination Employment
The Project
A three-year initiative funded through IRCC focused on providing a labour market solution to the existing and projected accommodations sector labour shortages, and providing an opportunity for newcomers to Canada to get a foot in the door of an industry that is growing and provides opportunities in dozens of positions. Specific objectives include:
- Employ 1,300 unemployed and underemployed newcomers in stable positions in the hotel industry
- Provide support, guidance, and resources to ensure a fit between needs of the employer and the skills and abilities of the newcomer
- Provide support, guidance, and resources to assist various stakeholders in the settlement services field to identify and place individuals in the program
- Improve the human resources practices of employers in tourism’s accommodation sector to create “welcoming workplaces”
- Increase newcomers’ knowledge about employment opportunities in tourism’s accommodation sector
- Improve the workplace language skills (English or French) of the newcomer employees
Committee Needs
This committee needs to reflect the different project stakeholders. We require input and feedback from all perspectives to ensure continual improvement over the life of the project. Specifically, we’re looking to recruit:
- Hospitality professionals (frontline, supervisor, manager, and executive roles all needed)
- Representatives from immigrant serving organizations
- Interested government officials (national, regional, local)
- Representatives from associations serving the sector (provincial/territorial hotel associations, professional bodies)
- Training /service providers (educators, researchers, trainers)
Projected Activities
- Assist in guiding project activities
- Exchange and share knowledge, ideas, and non-binding advice
- Review plans, documents, and resources
- Help identify additional project participants
To learn more or sign up, contact: destinationemployment@tourismhr.ca
Future Skills Framework
The Project
Funded by ESDC, the Future Skills Framework is a pan-Canadian competency framework for the tourism sector and its five constituent industry groups:
- Accommodation
- Food and Beverage Services
- Transportation
- Outdoor Recreation/Guiding/Meetings and Events
- Travel Services
The framework is a dynamic, comprehensive collection of competencies and essential employability and social skills that will build on the occupational standards that Tourism HR Canada has operated with for the past 25 years. The framework will be a library of easily updated competency elements that will define current and future skills. Specific objectives will focus on:
- Addressing skills gap and mismatch concerns in the tourism sector
- Skills forecasting
- Improving education and training provision
- Adapting employee skills to present or emerging trends
- Improving credentials or qualifications comparison
Committee Needs
This committee needs to reflect the different project stakeholders. We require input and feedback from all perspectives to ensure continual improvement over the life of the project. Specifically, we’re looking to recruit:
- Tourism professionals (frontline, supervisor, manager, and executive roles all needed)
- Interested government officials (national, regional, local)
- Representatives from associations serving the sector (provincial/territorial hotel associations, professional bodies)
- Training /service providers (educators, researchers, trainers)
- Representatives from organized labour
Projected Activities
- Provide input on competency contents
- Provide input towards competency framework design
- Identify partners for potential collaboration
- Provide directional guidance on the operation of the project, including recommended outputs
- Act as a source of guidance, information, and support
- Raise matters of concern
- Act as ambassadors for the project
- Validate and ratify project outputs
To learn more, contact: futureskills@tourismhr.ca
To participate, click here.
Labour Market Intelligence/Research
The Project
Under this ESDC-funded project, Tourism HR Canada will develop a foundational labour market forecasting system that responds to the evolving workforce development challenges in the tourism sector. The seven specific initiatives are to:
- Collect principal statistics on the 29 individual industries that make up the tourism sector to create an overall picture of the tourism labour force
- Host annual forums, bringing together industry stakeholders to discuss priorities for the tourism labour force and create a yearly action plan against which to measure progress
- Conduct a national salary and wage survey of tourism businesses
- Identify occupations that could experience labour shortages due to skill mismatches or a lack of available workers
- Update the Provincial-Territorial Human Resource Module (PTHRM)
- Conduct new primary and secondary research at industry and regional levels to inform strategies for addressing systemic tourism workforce issues
- Invest in technology that facilitates the collection and dissemination of information
Committee Needs
This committee is already in operation, but we are always looking for more people to contribute their expertise. This committee reflects those with a stake in the project’s outcomes. Specifically, we’re looking to recruit individuals from the following types of organizations:
- Tourism businesses
- Tourism industry associations
- Government
- Human resource organizations
- Educational institutions
- Tourism researchers
Projected Activities
- Share existing labour market information from their own organizations and regions and share best practices
- Identify partners for potential collaboration
- Provide directional guidance to the operation of the project
- Act as a source of guidance, information, and support
- Raise matters of concern
- Act as ambassadors for the project
To learn more or sign up, contact: research@tourismhr.ca