Niagara Regional Native Centre
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Niagara Regional Native Centre HANYOH Community Snaphot Employment & Education Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Labour Market Profile ........................................................................................................ 3 2. Research Report Methodology ................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Research Report Scope ...................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Research Report Issues and Questions .............................................................................. 8 2.3 Research Report Methodology .......................................................................................... 9 2.4 Roles, Responsibilities and Quality Assurance ............................................................... 10 3. Research Report Findings ...................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Employment Status Findings ........................................................................................... 12 3.2 Levels of Education & Access to Training ...................................................................... 12 3.3 Demographic .................................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Access to Transportation .................................................................................................. 15 4. Research Report Findings and Suggestions ........................................................................... 16 4.1 Employer Specific Advice ............................................................................................... 16 4.2 Job Seeker Advice ............................................................................................................ 16 5. Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 18 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 19 7. Toolbox .................................................................................................................................. 22 Appendix A - O ............................................................................................................................. 23 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 207 Executive Summary The Niagara Regional Native Centre, located at 382 Airport Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake, is an incorporated organization and a member of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. The mandate is to: promote awareness of the culture of Aboriginal peoples within the community in an effort to establish a relationship of mutual understanding and respect between Aboriginal peoples and the others within the community; advance, foster, encourage and promote the cultural and social interests of Aboriginal peoples, both collectively and individually; organize projects and carry out programs to alleviate and minimize, wherever possible, adverse social and economic conditions encountered by Aboriginal people in order to effect an improvement in their overall welfare and well-being; and, to promote native leadership in the native community. The Niagara Regional Native Centre recognizing the importance and potential impact of this research project sought out organizations that could provide expertise, community support, and front line knowledge of the urban Aboriginal community, that search resulted in partnerships with the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, and the Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board. As identified in the mandate, the Niagara Regional Native Centre has a marked interest in the Niagara urban Aboriginal community finding success, being prosperous contributing members within the community and improving their economic well-being. This level of commitment to the community made enhancing working relationships with the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre and Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board, based upon mutual respect and the realization that all of these organizations are striving for the betterment of the urban Aboriginal communities, a natural course of action. The cooperative spirit of all three of these Aboriginal based organizations creates an incredible knowledge base to this research project and the project has benefitted from this investment of time, energy, and facilities. CornerStone Concepts’ Principal, Ms. Michelle Sault is a known professional facilitator nationally, provincially and locally. Ms. Sault is a band member of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, she also holds membership with the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) and, as such conducts herself and her business with integrity, respect and professionalism while maintaining a close connection to her cultural identity. Key findings / conclusions from the research are as follows: Mentorship has been identified in all areas of the research as a key tool that is needed for employment and education. Mentorship should take on several different forms as will be expressly identified throughout this report. Individual personal involvement in planning is a key tool that is needed for creating education plans, training plans and seeking out a successful employment path. One realization that was increasingly brought to the surface throughout the research process was the gap that exists between the Aboriginal based service providers and mainstream service providers. There is a philosophical misconception that the mainstream organizations are taking steps to incorporate or, are currently practicing some method of cultural sensitivity directly related to people of Aboriginal descent, this is not the case. The largest barriers to education, employment and training in the Niagara Region are more specific to the area and impact the entire population, those barriers are transportation, addictions, and a need for more supports related to mental health issues. It is recommended that: • A formal agreement be established with provincial mainstream service providers to identify Aboriginal clients that are seeking out services, for the purpose of providing contact information and/or referral to Aboriginal based services and Aboriginal service provider personnel. • Establish an online portal as a knowledge base for educational funding sources, bursaries, scholarships, be developed and maintained by an Aboriginal service provider to give assistance to all Aboriginal students. Liaise with these sources to provide an awareness of the portal for the students. • Development of a protocol with the District School Boards and an Aboriginal based service provider(s) to identify and provide advocacy for students of single parent households to prevent misdirection of the student to the push-out program. • Development of culturally based follow-up protocols or mentorship program for Aboriginal based service providers to re-enforce the sense of community that can be lost when Aboriginal people move to urban centres. • Exploration into potential opportunities with Innovate Niagara for a partnering strategy that could encompass funding relationships for training seats specifically for Aboriginal people. Hanyoh: The final report for the “Community Snapshot on Employment and Education” was presented to the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres on Thursday March 31st 2016. 1. Introduction 1.1 Overview This economic snapshot enables a view of the community through differing lenses to determine needs based upon community feedback, this feedback is provided by survey results and focus groups. Future program planning, projects, services and partnerships can then be based upon current cultural context addressing person and community centered needs. These needs will be identified from the survey and from the stakeholder input. The focus is to identify: the demographic of the urban Aboriginal community; the current status of the labour market; the retention of Aboriginal students by post-secondary educational institutions; existing services; and, service providers. The goal in completing this research is to make recommendations in the form of a toolbox to help overcome identified barriers to the labour market and post-secondary education; bridge service gaps; streamline services; and, target specific training based upon current and projected job market trends. Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board has completed an “Urban Aboriginal Labour Market Study” for the catchment area bound by Waterloo to Fort Erie, some preliminary statistics from that study in the Niagara region will be utilized in this project1. In accordance with the memorandum of understanding, the Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board furnished preliminary findings for Niagara to the Niagara Regional Native Centre for the purpose of providing