Rural-Urban Interaction in Newfoundland and Labrador: Project Update Corner Brook, NL Sarah-Patricia Breen October 8, 2008

Overview  Timeline  Summer 2008 Update  Data collected  Preliminary results  Relationship mapping  Background paper  Researcher Updates  David Freshwater – Active Labour Market strategies  Alvin Simms– Functional Regions Analysis  Rob Greenwood – National perspective  Ryan Lane– Knowledge mobilization  Revised Timeline

Timeline  Phase I: May 07-May 08  Data collection  Consultations  Milestone I – Interim Report I  Phase II: May 08-May 09  Labour Market Attractiveness Index  Milestone II – Interim Report II  Phase III: May 08-October09  Sustainability Index  Milestone III – Final Report and Operational Tool  Milestone IV - Community Workshops  Phase IV - Evaluation  Completed  Functional Regions Analysis  Regional Governance Questionnaires  Pilot Region Engagement  Active Labour Market Paper  Milestone I  Remaining  Data collection ongoing  Completion of Regional Governance Background Paper  Phase II - IV ActivityAchievement

Summer 2008 Data Collection  Questionnaires  Regional and Local NGOs  Businesses  Pilot Region Profiles  History, Economic, Social, Cultural, Environmental  Regional Asset Mapping  GPS & Photos  Additional Data  Twillingate / New World Island Agency Directory

Summer 2008 Data Collection  Questionnaires: 18/31 (NGOs) 22/56 (Businesses)  Profile: complete  Regional Asset Mapping: data collected  Agency Directory  Questionnaires: 21/40 (NGOs) 17/37 (Businesses)  Profile: in progress  Regional Asset Mapping: data collected Twillingate / New World Island Labrador Straits

Preliminary Results - Questions  What area do you consider to be your region?  How optimistic do you feel about the future of your community?  What do you feel are the greatest challenges facing your organization / business today?

Preliminary Results – Q#1  Question #1 - Regions  Businesses: (#1)Notre Dame Bay, (#2) Twillingate /NWI, (#3) Central NL  NGOs: (#1) Twillingate NWI, (#2) Grand Falls- Gander-Twillingate Triangle, (#3) Tie - other  Question #1 - Regions  Businesses: (#1) Labrador Straits, (#2) Labrador Straits + Quebec Lower North Shore OR L’Anse au Clair to Cartwright  NGOs: (#1) Labrador Straits, (#2)Labrador Straits + Blanc Sablon, (#3) Tie - other Twillingate / New World Island Labrador Straits

Preliminary Results – Q#2  Question #2 - Future  Businesses: 14/18 were optimistic or somewhat optimistic  NGOs: 13/17 were optimistic or somewhat optimistic  Question #2 - Future  Businesses: 13/17 were optimistic or somewhat optimistic  NGOs: 13/15 were optimistic or somewhat optimistic Twillingate / New World Island Labrador Straits

Preliminary Results – Q#3  Question #3 - Challenges  Businesses: increasing costs, population change, finding and retaining skilled workers  NGOs: human resources issues (population change, volunteer numbers, retaining skilled workers) and organizational finance/costs/funding  Question #3 - Challenges  Businesses: increasing costs and finding and retaining skilled workers  NGOs: human resources issues (population change, volunteer numbers, retaining skilled workers) and organizational finance/costs/funding Twillingate / New World Island Labrador Straits

Relationship Mapping  Social Network Analysis  Relationship Mapping  Asset Mapping  Application for project  Examples

One example: Kittiwake/Twillingate- New World Island agencies involved in similar labour market-related activities Are they connected, collaborating, building on one another’s efforts? Are there gaps?

Background Paper November 2008  Project Purpose  Governance Overview  Regional Governance Models in NL  Economic and Labour Market Development  Social Development  Environment and Natural Resources  Community Development  Regional Services and Local Government  Aboriginal Governance  Political Boundaries  Emerging Trends in Governance  Conclusion

Regional Governance: RDAs Fall 2008  Est. 27 active RDAs, 13 have participated in project  Highlights  Mandate: community economic development  Half said boundaries are provincially designed  69% don’t have annual operating budget, 67% generate revenue through administration fees and renting building space  Heavily reliant on volunteers  95% of RDAs collaborate with local organizations Includes information sharing and project partnerships  Accomplishments include: creation of economic opportunities, improved social conditions, and labour market development  Challenges: funding and volunteers

Regional Governance: REDBs Fall 2008  10/11 identified have identified distinct sub-regions  Key stakeholders: municipalities and businesses  Respondents indicate their regions are very or somewhat collaborative  9/11 have a mandate for labour market development, 2/11 indicate they are involved but all have activities in support of labour market development

Active Labour Market Policy: Implications for Local Labour Markets and Regional Development Dr. David Freshwater Dept. of Geography Memorial University

Active Labour Market Policy Paper: Summary  Literature Review  Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP)  Efforts by government to alter workings of labour markets  Addresses structural unemployment problems  3 Approaches Modify supply of labour Increase demand for labour Improve functioning of labour market  Examples of Implementing ALMP  Job Matching  Job Training  Job Subsidies

Labour Market Analysis Dr. Alvin Simms Jamie Ward (M.Sc. Candidate) Dept. of Geography Memorial University

Labour markets disappearing Comparison of 2001 and 2006 Journey to Work Data: Labour markets becoming more localized When journey to work numbers are reduced to a minimum (e.g. 10 workers) a labour region will not be formed.

The employment concentration index (ECI) determines if employment in a particular industry ( e.g. fish processing) is concentrated in a few communities or shared among many communities throughout the region. The employment dependency index (EDI) identifies how dependent a community, within a labour market region, is on a particular industry (e.g. fish processing)

High dependency on fish plant jobs in a majority of communities produces high to very high dispersion for the region suggesting that the jobs, regionally, are distributed amongst the communities fairly evenly. This analysis provides insight to employment dependencies within a region and the vulnerability of labour markets to fluctuations in a particular industry.

Revised Timeline  Remaining: November 2008  Data collection ongoing  Completion of Regional Governance Background Paper  Pilot Region Results  Functional Regions Analysis  Presentations: NL REDA, Provincial Cabinet Committee, Federal- Regional Council  Phase II: May 08-May 09  Labour Market Viability Model and Attractiveness Index  Strategic Labour Market Planning Analysis Paper  Milestone II – Interim Report II  Phase III: May 08-October09  Sustainability Index  Formal integration of project components  Milestone III – Final Report and Operational Tool  Milestone IV - Community Workshops  Phase IV - Evaluation Activity

Questions? For copies of documents please requests to October 8, 2008