Learning, Earning and Living CK Career Expo and Job Fair, led by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, earned the Economic Developers Council of Ontario's (EDCO) Workforce Development and Resident Attraction – Urban Award at the EDCO President's Dinner and Awards Ceremony on February 8, 2024.
The EDCO Awards of Excellence is an annual program that recognizes distinctive ideas and initiatives that can become future economic development best practices. Recipients of the EDCO awards are viewed as leaders in economic development.
The Learning, Earning, LivingCK Career Expo and Job Fair project helped to future-proof our community, showcase career pathways, and attract talent to position CK for growth. This project supported career planning and talent building to future-proof Chatham-Kent's workforce by engaging local students (grades 7 to post-secondary), and talent attraction for existing job openings by connecting both internal and external jobseekers with employers, digitally and in-person to meet workforce demands.
The key components of the Learning, Earning, and LivingCK Career Expo and Job Fair were:
- Lead-up capacity-building workshops with employers to enhance talent attraction and retention efforts with key talent pools.
- Learning, Earning, and LivingCK talent attraction marketing campaign targeting jobseekers across Southwestern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area.
- Learning, Earning, and LivingCK Career Expo and Job Fair hosted on October 18 and 19, 2023 at the John D. Bradley Convention Center, which included hands-on learning activities to explore career pathways for in-demand jobs and growth sectors in Chatham-Kent which engaged over 2,400 students and 880 jobseekers.
The following testimonials where shared from community partners from the Learning Earning and LivingCK Career Expo and Job Fair:
"This was a tremendous opportunity for our students to learn more about post-secondary education and career opportunities that are available to them right here in our own community. My thanks to the many professionals, volunteers and members of our staff who helped to make this day happen. Well done!" - Scott Johnson, Director of Education, St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
"We want to express our gratitude for a wonderful bus tour experience. Our clients have enjoyed learning about CK though the newsletter, webinars, and the in-person visit. Many have said that it was one of the best job fairs they have attended. Several people shared that the tour has exceeded their expectations and their perception of small-town Canada has changed. Overall, it was a positive and joyful experience, and we will cherish our memories." – Tania Maksymenko, Rural Employment Initiative Project Lead, Newcomer Centre of Peel.
The Learning, Earning and LivingCK Career Expo and Job Fair created a platform for businesses and educational institutions to connect with potential employees and students and contributed to the economic and workforce growth of our community.
To learn more about making Chatham-Kent home, visit the Choose Chatham-Kent section and find current job postings at ChathamKentJobs.com.
