TORONTO, April 19, 2017 – Students were pleased with the recommendations in the Premier’s Highly Skilled Workforce Expert Panel report, Building the Workforce of Tomorrow: A Shared Responsibility, released less than a year ago. The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) participated in the consultations leading up to this report, resulting in the inclusion of recommendations from our Student Employment Policy. Today OUSA proudly supports another step towards improving students’ employment outcomes as Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, and Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, announce the province’s new Career Kick-Start Strategy.
Career Kick-Start comes with funding for universities to create tailored career-oriented learning experiences, more internship opportunities, and access to free online learning resources for students and recent graduates.
“We have always been strong advocates for experiential learning,” says Jamie Cleary, President of OUSA. “Knowing the value of this type of learning for students, it is encouraging to see the government making an investment that will ease their transition from school to their future careers.”
OUSA appreciates the expediency of the government’s response to the Building the Workforce of Tomorrow report. Highly educated students are critical to strengthening Ontario’s workforce, but their success is a shared responsibility. Commitments, such as this, to collaboration and the expansion of experiential learning opportunities ensure students will be able to find work once they have finished their degrees.
Career Kick-Start encourages the cross-sector development of diverse forms of experiential learning. This is great progress towards ensuring all willing and qualified students can benefit from these opportunities before they graduate.
To read OUSA’s Student Employment Policy, click here.