About the Local Workforce Planning Board

Workforce WindsorEssex operates as the local workforce planning board for the Windsor-Essex region. Local Workforce Planning Boards are independent not-for-profit corporations sponsored by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) to improve the condition of the labour market in their specified region of Ontario.

Each year many projects are undertaken to support jobseekers, students, employers, educators, and service providers in our community.


2024-25 Current Projects

The organization will develop an action plan with a 3-year outlook for the community, based on partner consultations. The report will include an update on actions noted in the previous community plan. The report will be released at a virtual action planning event with community partners.

The Local Labour Market Plan report will be developed and released to the community. Following the report’s release, an action planning event will be hosted to determine partners in the community that are willing to take on relevant challenges and identify partners in the community to work together to address issues in our community.

Past reports can be viewed here.

The annual conference will take place in Windsor-Essex to bring together workforce development actors, including industry, service providers, education, and government, to discuss best practices and success stories from around the province that can be adopted in Windsor-Essex. The full day conference will include presentations of regional best practices, and facilitated panel conversations with champions across industries and organizations. Discussion of the EV sector’s talent needs will also take place.

A comprehensive report will be developed to address persistent recruitment and retention challenges faced in the tourism and hospitality sector. This resource will propose innovative solutions to employers to fill staffing gaps more effectively, as well as profiles of in-demand occupations employed in the sector.

The tourism and hospitality sector often deal with ongoing issues, such as high turnover rates attributed to the seasonal nature of business, resulting in the limited availability of full-time positions and employment benefits. As a result, the sector often struggles to attract essential staff. The sector is also still recovering from lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are over 900 businesses operating in the sector locally, which employs over 13,000 individuals over the course of a year (2022-2023). The sector is an important driver of economic growth for the Windsor-Essex region, and provides many quality employment opportunities, especially for individuals seeking to develop transferable skills.

A report will be developed to analyze the local impact on the economy and labour force of recent EV investments and sector growth. An online business support tool will be created to help employers find financial incentives, support programs, and local business growth services, start-up support programs, and loans to further grow the EV sector in our region. Manufacturing Day will be hosted to support local talent promotion and demand for experiential learning opportunities.

Past Local Board Projects


QUESTIONS?

Project Contact:

Tashlyn Teskey, Manager of Research Projects: tteskey@workforcewindsoressex.com