Yes, thank you.
Some of the more successful models are ones in which the employer is not funded directly. As we were talking about, employers aren't interested in applying for grants and going through that long, long process. In the provinces where it works really well, like Manitoba, it's through a labour market department that actually sends out assessors and trainers to your workplace, figures out what the essential skills and literacy challenges are, and then designs that just-in-time program on their behalf.
Similarly, in Ontario we partnered with the Ontario Literacy Coalition for a workplace literacy project that went into 14 different workplaces across the province. The funding went to the Ontario Literacy Coalition, who then contracted with other local providers to ensure that workplaces had their training needs met.
I think that's a really nice model, where the employer doesn't have to be involved in applying for funding. Sometimes that can be a hassle. If there can be an intermediary, some kind of smart third party, that really helps them. The other thing we hear from employers is that they need a lot of hand-holding. They need help with assessment, with training. A lot of the SMEs in fact don't have HR professionals who are masters of training, so they really are looking for another expert, a college, a school board, a literacy organization that can do that work for them.