Forum of Labour Market Ministers (Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting)
BACKGROUNDER – The Mobile Worker Website Information Sheet
Easy access to relevant, accurate and up-to-date information is essential for the labour market to function efficiently, particularly for workers, students and others who are prepared to re-locate in another province or territory to take advantage of opportunities for work, training or education.
The Mobile Worker Website will provide public access through the Internet to a wide range of labour market information that can facilitate the free movement of labour across Canada. The site will also contribute to the implementation of the Mobility chapter of the Agreement on Internal Trade, particularly with respect to provisions calling for greater transparency of regulations and practices affecting the mobility of workers between jurisdictions.
The development of the website is the responsibility of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Labour Market Information Task Team created in 1995 by the Forum of Labour Market Ministers. The Task Team's mandate is to improve co-ordination between governments in the production and dissemination of labour market information and, more particularly, to develop ways and means to facilitate worker mobility across Canada. The Task Team is currently co-chaired by Human Resources Development Canada and the Province of British Columbia.
Once fully developed, the Mobile Worker Website will offer a variety of practical information including:
A database on regulated occupations
This major new database will provide up-to-date information on the formal requirements that govern entry into occupations that are regulated in Canada. The database will also contain comprehensive information on the rules and procedures that, in each of the provinces and territories, the bodies responsible for regulating these occupations have put in place for the purpose of recognizing qualifications obtained elsewhere in Canada or out of Canada.
Assembling this database is the responsibility of Human Resources Development Canada, in close co-operation with FLMM's Labour Mobility Co-ordinating Group and with regulatory bodies in each of the provinces and territories.
Labour mobility information at local, provincial and national levels
The site will also help users access the web to find the practical information that they may need when considering a move to another province or territory, or when preparing to re-locate. Much of this information will be provided through links with existing websites created by governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
The links will be organized under the following main categories:
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The Mobile Worker Website will be useful for workers and work seekers, students, potential immigrants, Canadians with foreign credentials, career and employment counsellors, immigration officials, regulating bodies, voluntary organizations and many different government departments and agencies at federal, provincial and local levels.
A prototype version of the Mobile Worker Website has been created. The prototype is being presented to officials and regulatory body representatives in each of the provinces and territories in order to obtain feedback on the content, structure and functionality of the website and explore avenues for partnerships in its future development and maintenance.
The first fully operational version of the website should be available to the general public in June, 1998.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
| Sue Potter Co-Chair of the Task Team Human Resources Development Canada (819) 994-8184 spotter@istar.ca Gilles Jasmin |
Jim Howie Co-Chair of the Task Team The Province of British Columbia (250) 413-4414 jhowie@ceiss.org Kim Finn |