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Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP staff
By Shaun Penner
Strategic Action Plan

Planning underway for collaborative regional workforce development action plan

Oct 11, 2021 | 7:00 AM

Planning is underway for a joint action plan from regional municipalities, the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce and Grande Prairie Regional College to develop a Regional Workforce Development Strategic Action Plan.

The aim is to strategically plan out best practices to meet employment demands and address skills gaps and workforce development needs in the region over the next five years.

Chamber Chair Larry Gibson says the development of such a plan follows the Regional Labour Market Needs Assessment first undertaken in 2020.

“We complied all of the information we gathered from the Labour Market Needs Assessment that’s completed, now we don’t want to have it sit there and nothing happen with it,” said Gibson.

“We want to get going and develop an action plan of how we can move forward and try and meet the needs of some of our businesses and some of the skill gaps for what we’ve seen in the area. Not just for now, but into the future as well,”

The project is a collaboration between the chamber, the City and County of Grande Prairie, the MD of Greenview, Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) and Alberta Labour and Immigration.

Gibson says work on the plan will occur over the next several months, and will involve a steering committee which will consist of members representing the chamber, Alberta Labour and Immigration, GPRC and the three partner municipalities.

The Committee will also work to gather insights and expertise from community and industry stakeholders throughout the project.

“I think getting these action plans in place and actually focusing on the areas of need, and having the Grande Prairie Regional College as a partner now is going to be very beneficial to getting the action plans in place,” Gibson added.

“Not only for meeting the skills for today, but giving them that information so they can train here locally for skills of tomorrow as well.”

Some of the challenges identified in the labour needs assessment include a shifting and evolving economic climate, skilled labour shortages, the need for better current and future labour market data and trends, as well as recruitment, retention and succession challenges.

This is why Gibson says working directly with industry partners will be vital in developing an action plan.

“Just to make sure were meeting the needs and things are changing rapidly these days so keeping that constant communication with our business community and our different sectors around here is going to be critical as we build that action plan moving forward.”

The economic development firm McSweeney & Associates will work with project partners to guide the project.

The goal is to have the project completed by April of 2022.

by Shaun Penner