Welcome to our new web site. If you are a potential Métis client, I strongly encourage you to take this time to browse through our programs and services and make that decision today to visit our services nearest you, or pick up that phone and call 1888-48Métis.

We're here to help you "Get Ahead of the Future!"

The Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) vision and mission with respect to labour market development (LMD) programming is to establish a skilled Métis labour force and to assist Métis clients achieve self-sufficiency through training and employment. This vision is linked to the broader strategic goals of the MNA Provincial Council including a quality of life for Métis people, which is equivalent to other Albertans.

The LMD program has multi-level integrated structures designed to meet Métis people's needs at the local and regional level with a decentralized service delivery system, while at the same time promoting policy and expressing accountability through a centralized financial and program management network.

Our programs and services are delivered to clients through sixteen sites of "Métis Employment Services (MES)" located throughout the province. General MES staff complement includes employment counsellors; client services assistants, and labour market researchers. We offer a wide range of employment programs and client services through MES such as pre-employment services, career counselling, job referral, employment assessment and labour market information.

Because most of the Alberta Métis population is urban-based, the MNA Métis Human Resources Development Agreement (MHRDA) includes a financial component designed to enhance urban delivery sites in Edmonton and Calgary. MES counsellors provide client services such as employability assessment, action planning, career decision-making, non-funded interventions such as job search, and skills development sponsorship.

We attribute our success in delivering this program to our strength in planning, establishing priorities and targets, and always working towards continuous improvement. As such, the capacity building activities of the MNA LMD program are all based in-house in terms of staff training and organizational development.

In addition to staff training, the MNA is involved in a multi-year exercise that focuses on the broader goals of building organizational and operational capacity. The LMD program therefore has several goals and strategies aimed at increasing managerial/administrative capacity, achieving excellence in business processes, and providing strategic leadership in Aboriginal labour market programming. Presently the MNA LMD program is pursuing ISO standards certification.

As part of our mandate we ensure Métis clients participate in the Alberta economy and the broader labour market by actively pursuing public and private sector partnerships. Over the years, LMD reported that it was participating in cost-shared, collaborative projects valued at $11 million dollars, some of which are still in operation today. These projects involve partnerships with federal-provincial governments and agencies, with First Nations and Aboriginal organizations, the private sector/industry, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, colleges and other academic institutions. Many partnerships bring together government, academic/training institutions, the private sector, and other partners in a single project or initiative.

Private sector initiatives that seek out Aboriginal organizations to help alleviate the province's labour supply crisis have contributed to the formation of stronger relationships. The collaborative, cost-shared partnerships which the MNA has enjoyed with the private sector are predominantly a result of the oil and gas sector. These partnerships have led to specific, identifiable outputs in the form of initiatives that benefit Métis people, including training and curriculum development, work experience leading to permanent employment, the collection of labour market information, and the establishment of Métis student endowment funds.

There has been some effort within Alberta to build relationships and cooperative partnerships through the forum of the Alberta AHRDA caucus. MNA partnerships with other AHRDAs will often take the form of jointly funded employment centres, as well as cooperation in specific training and employment initiatives. In the case of the MNA, the broader application of its KETO Client Data System provides an opportunity for relationship building in the future.

The MNA has many opportunities to participate in partnerships with the federal and provincial governments pursuant to initiatives such as the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership, the Alberta Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project and the Alberta Labour Force Strategy. While the MNA MHRDA is an active participant in these projects, the downside is that collaboration will sometimes lead such projects competing directly with regular MNA LMD programs and services for clients/participants. As MNA LMD clients have been drawn into other, multi-party labour market and employment development initiatives to the extent we have experienced an overall decline in the number of clients accessing its own MHRDA programs. To address this, we have stepped up our efforts in marketing the program and recently changed criteria to ensure greater access to our program.

To close, I would like to say the MNA LMD program has developed sound administrative practices within the fiscal framework of results-based accountability while extending beyond the realm of the MHRDA to promote the strategic direction and corporate objectives of the Métis Nation of Alberta, and by being a champion of Provincial Council's strategic goals of a) effective, accountable governance; b) positive and productive relationships, and c) the advancement of Métis people.

Best Regards,

Lorne Gladu
Director - Labour Market Development
Proudly serving the Métis Nation while "Working to Make a Difference"