Provincial Models of Program Integration Project

The College Sector Committee for Adult Upgrading (CSC) has been funded to develop a model or models of integration for the training and support of clients in the college system. The full name of project is Provincial Models of Program Integration, but it will be referred to simply as the “Models Project” in the report. The Models Project is intended to help college Academic Upgrading programs move forward with the implementation of One Stop by bringing together three of the largest adult education programs at both the provincial and local levels.

The programs are:

• Literacy and Basic Skills/Academic Upgrading¹
• Job Connect (with a focus on college Job Connect programs)
• Pre-Apprenticeship/Apprenticeship²

The Models Project builds on previous CSC research on integrated programming as reported in A Snapshot of College Sector Workforce Delivery released in October 2005.

The objectives of the Models Project are to:

• develop a clear understanding of the services which the three programs are best suited to deliver
• inform managers and frontline program deliverers in all three programs about the services available
• identify joint delivery activities currently taking place and/or planned
• develop and pilot models of integration
• identify barriers to greater integration and develop strategies to overcome these barriers

The ultimate aim of the Models Project is to assist participants in all three programs. Greater service integration of all three programs will make the system easier for participants to navigate and achieve their goals more quickly. Academic Upgrading students wanting to move directly into employment will have access to the Essential Skills training, job search, field placement and employer support opportunities available through Job Connect. They will also have much greater exposure to the job opportunities available through Apprenticeship. Job Connect and Apprenticeship clients can acquire the necessary literacy and numeracy training they need to access and succeed in employment.

The Models Project will provide frontline program deliverers in all three programs with a greater understanding of the services available to their clients. Consequently, deliverers will have more options when assisting clients.

The implementation of One Stop provides unique opportunities for the co-ordination of Academic Upgrading, Job Connect and Pre-Apprenticeship/Apprenticeship programs and services. The Snapshot Report showed that at many colleges joint activities had already begun or were planned. See Appendix A.

¹ Literacy and Basic Skills/Academic Upgrading is simply referred to as Academic Upgrading in the report.
² These terms are used both jointly and separately in the report depending on the context.