Ontario Labour Market Partnerships


The Ontario Labour Market Partnerships program supports partnerships among employers, employer/employee associations, and community organizations. The program is intended to help partners to:

  • address identified labour market issues;
  • develop and implement strategies to improve their ability to plan for their human resource needs;
  • implement labour force adjustment measures to deal with changes in the labour market that are driven by technological, economic, demographic, and/or structural influences, including expansion, workplace problems, implications of changing technology for labour, changing educational requirements, and equity and youth issues.

What types of projects are eligible for support?

The following partnership projects are eligible for funding:

  • individual projects that have a start and a finish (Funding is not to be used for ongoing projects.)
  • projects that have measurable results for which the partners are accountable
  • projects that involve preparing and implementing plans and strategies to address human resource needs and to enable the organizations to keep pace with changes in the labour market

The activities of the projects must relate to employers, employer/employee associations, and community organizations, and must focus on meeting human resource requirements or on dealing with adjustment issues involving these groups. Activities not related to human resources and the labour market (e.g. social and health issues) are ineligible for funding.

In Labour Market Partnerships, a partnership must be formed to achieve the objectives of the project. Sponsors are expected to contribute either funding or in-kind support to the achievement of the project's activities and goals.

Note: Since October 2006, Employment Ontario's Adjustment Advisory Program has been responsible for dealing with all adjustment projects involving layoffs and shutdowns – both new proposals and requests for extensions to existing agreements from single companies, community organizations, or sectors. Adjustment proposals dealing with expansion are still eligible for support from the Ontario Labour Market Partnerships program, but all requests must be approved in advance by a regional director of Employment Ontario.

How can I get more information?

Call the toll-free Employment Ontario hotline at 1-800-387-5656, TTY (telephone service for the deaf) 1-866-768-1157 for more information about how to access services of the Ontario Labour Market Partnerships program in your area. Newcomers to Ontario can ask for this information in the language of their choice.