Who we are
Established in 1999, the Ontario Business Education Partnership (OBEP) is a not-for-profit organization that advocates on key issues impacting career exploration and workforce development. Our purpose is to facilitate a dynamic network among government-supported and private sector partners, thereby enabling:
- Informed relationships between industry and educators
- Effective communication of government programs and shaping of new policy
- Well-supported experiential learning opportunities in Ontario communities
What we do
Primarily, we connect.
As a catalyst for career exploration and workforce development, we help develop informed networks across industry, education and government.We work to enhance the quality and availability of experiential learning opportunities deliver those opportunities in through out member communities across the province of Ontario. We also work with the industry associations representing major employment sectors, creating awareness of the role of experiential learning in fulfilling the short and long term workforce development needs of the province.
Through the career talks, career fairs, workplace tours, job shadowing and co-op placements that result from our connections:
- Students leave high school with insight into career options and the skills and experience required for success
- Business and industry gain fresh perspective and enhanced presence among tomorrow’s workforce
- Ontario’s economy remains poised for long term prosperity through a two-pronged engagement of the next generation workforce and the workplace
Why it’s important
When students leave high school, they go in one of four directions:
- The workforce
- Skilled trades
- College
- University
Each pathway plays a role in the workforce development requirements of the increasingly knowledge-based economy of Ontario, where high-knowledge sectors including technology, advanced manufacturing, health care and finance have grown exponentially over the past two decades. Opportunities for primary and secondary students to explore related career options in these and other sectors – through career fairs, workplace tours, co-op education and short-term work placements – not only helps students make more informed choices about their future, but helps ensure development of the occupational and interpersonal skills necessary to support the long-term workforce requirements of the provincial economy.
The evidence
Students who participate in experiential learning gain valuable work experience, greater insight into career options, improved work-related skills and a sense of connection between their academics, their experiential learning opportunity and future career. Industries and employers who participate in experiential learning benefit from fresh perspective and enhanced presence among tomorrow’s workforce, the chance to recruit more informed, motivated and skilled new employees from the student pool, and improved overall employee retention.
Our agenda
In 2012-2013, OBEP is pursuing:
- Enhanced partnership initiatives to enrich industry-education collaboration.
- Ongoing strategic support of community-based experiential learning opportunities .
- New advocacy programs on key experiential learning and workforce development issues.
Contact us for more information or to become an OBEP network partner.