Governance Before and After the Labour Market Development Agreement in Ontario, Canada

1. Governance Before and After the Labour Market Development Agreement in Ontario, Canada By Matt Wood, Executive Director First Work, the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres For the IAEVG Conference, June 2014, Quebec City, Canada

2. The way it was… Canadian Government (Federal) Ontario Government (Provincial) Dep. Human Resources (policy) Min. of Training Min. of Social Services Dep. Service Canada (delivery) Other ALMPs • Youth • Aboriginal • Disabilities Active LMPs (Youth-focused) $125 million 129 3rd party Delivery agencies Passive LMPs (Workfare) 7.5 billion of which 165 million ‘active’ 26 Municipal gov. Delivery agencies Active LMPs (Emp Insurance) $500 million (in Ontario) 400 3rd party delivery agencies

3. The way it was… • Federal Active LMPs • Decentralized (but inflexible) • Outsourced to pseudo-market competitive, specialized 3rd party delivery through RFPs • 3. Interagency collaboration forced through assessment / delivery split • 4. Networks encouraged (weakly) • Provincial Active Youth LMPs • Decentralized and flexible • Outsourced to pseudo-market competitive 3rd party delivery with long-term performance-contingent contracts • 3. Interagency collaboration supported through referral targets and recognition • 4. Networks encouraged (weakly) • Provincial Passive LMPs • Decentralized and flexible • Downloaded to 26 municipal governments • 3. Interagency collaboration not supported • 4. Networks not supported

4. The way it is… post-LMDA $500 mill, LMDA Canadian Government (Federal) Ontario Government (Provincial) Human Resources (policy) Min. of Training Min. of Social Services Service Canada (delivery) Other ALMPs • Youth • Aboriginal • Disabilities Active LMPs (‘No Wrong Door’) $525 million 183 3rd party Delivery agencies Passive LMPs (Workfare) Same as before

5. The way it is… • Federal Active LMPs • Retained their other portfolios (national numbers) • Provincial Active LMPs • Now “No Wrong Door” not Youth-focused • Still decentralized and flexible (but a bit less) • Still outsourced to pseudo-market competitive 3rd party delivery with long-term performance-contingent contracts • 3. Still interagency collaboration supported through referral targets (but no recognition) • 4. Still networks encouraged (weakly) • Provincial Passive LMPs • Still decentralized and flexible • Still downloaded to 26 municipal governments • 3. Still Interagency collaboration not supported • 4. Still Networks not supported • Youth ($252 mil.) • Aboriginal ($246+ mil.) • Disabilities ($38 mil) Integration planning ongoing

6. Summary of Changes • Policy • Specialized ALMPs (Federal) and youth-focused ALMPs (Provincial) replaced by “No Wrong Door” ALMPs • Federal Assessment vs. Delivery split abandoned • Governance in General: • The federal system was replaced by the provincial system (at our strong urging) • Decentralization for flexibility • Fed. rigid budgeting replaced by prov. flexible budgeting system • Federal “in the kitchen” practice replaced by provincial “it’s your responsibility, figure it out” system. • Outsourcing • Fed. RFPs replaced with prov. long-term performance-contingent contracts. • Many, small 3rd party agencies replaced by fewer, larger 3rd party delivery agencies • 200+ small agencies contracts ended, larger agencies took on higher targets. 400  183 contracts across province. • Interagency collaboration • Now tracked and recognized through referral targets • Networking • Weak and inconsistent support maintained in its glorious form. • Recognition abandoned but may return

7. Summary of Services • Assessment • Assessment of measurable “suitability requirements” • Personal assessments (wide variety, voluntary, cheap and fast) • Job Search Support • Voluntary workshops on resume writing, job search techniques, accessing the hidden job market, etc. • Employment Support • Job Boards (online and paper-based), Job Fairs • Job Development • Individual counselling for those eligible • Supported identification of specific employers to take specific employees • May involve job carving, job trials, • Wage subsidies (few and rare) • Supplemental Programs (Ontario Youth Employment Fund, Second Career) • Temporarily adds significant resources to wage and training subsidies • OYEF = $7800 per youth, Second Career < $28000 for displaced older workers • Leveraged Programs (from other revenue sources) • Temporarily adds training and job placement experiences

8. Note 1 • Specialized vs. “no wrong door” vs. “one stop shop” Note 2 • Weak vs. strong vs. independent networking

9. Provincial Government Min. Training, Colleges and Universities Performance-contingent Contracts Other revenue sources Including other govern-ment contracts 183 Independent 3rd Party Deliverers Clients and Employer Services

10. Note 3 Independent networking lead to successful advocacy efforts to maintain provincial, not federal, delivery model. • Youth  all ages shift still happened • All other governance aspects of provincial model maintained

11. Note 4 RFPs vs. Performance-contingency • RFPs undermine performance, substitute it with proposal writing • Performance contingency requires costly tracking an IT infrastructure to get understanding of true employment outcomes • Contingency must be long-term to allow for stability and organizational learning • Positive consequences better than “hair trigger” punishments.

12. What’s Next? Greater provincial integration Employment Services Active LMPs through 3rd Parties $525 Million, all active LMPs Ontario Works (Workfare) through Municipalities 7.5 billion of which $165 mil. active LMPs Passive Supports $165 mil Active Supports

13. Contact Matt Wood, Executive Director First Work: The Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres mwood@firstwork.org