Four companies will be pilot sites for the Skills Planning and Knowledge Networks project. The new initiative will help companies identify individual and company-wide training needs, develop learning plans and establish an online network of experts.

Beaulieu Canada, Firestone Textiles, MW Canada and Stedfast Inc. will be among the first companies to develop a company-wide training strategy. They will implement learning plans for individual employees, test new learning tools and measure the business impact of training. Sector-wide implementation will be based on the experience at the four pilot sites.

The Skills Planning and Knowledge Networks project, which started in May 2007, will also establish online networks, or “communities of practice,” that facilitate knowledge-sharing within and among textile companies.

All net labour force growth in Canada is expected to come from immigration in the next four years. The Global Skills Connection project is collecting labour market information and input from industry to determine what programs and services, if any, are required in the future.

Representatives of more than 45 companies and organizations have provided insight into the challenges associated with attracting and integrating new immigrants into the textile workplace as part of THRC’s examination of current and future skills shortages in the Canadian industry.