We're very pleased to be here today. Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity.
I'm Karyn Ferguson, the program director with the institute.
We'd first like to briefly familiarize you with our history as the Canadian Professional Logistics Institute and review a number of the employability issues that we've been addressing.
Our suggestions today for actions and solutions are based on labour market research that we continuously conduct and our experience with workforce development initiatives that are undertaken with many community stakeholders.
The institute was incorporated in 1990 as a result of the collaborative efforts of 12 industry associations. We represent a cross-sectoral labour market, which means that our practitioners work in various industries. We are supported by over 2,000 logistics professionals who have earned our certification through our training programs, and we are also supported by our partners in professionalism, which include both industry, industry associations, and a number of educational institutions from across Canada.
We believe that the capacity to compete in a global market depends on the skill level of our workforce and the ability to mobilize that workforce.
As a sector council and a standards body, the institute has a core focus on specific workforce development initiatives and development issues within both a national and now global perspective.
Our portfolio of initiatives and activities encompasses many areas, including logistics labour market information studies. We address issues such as compensation, retention, recruitment, training and development, and mobility. We also are producing competency and productivity standards in logistics from entry levels of responsibility straight through to strategic levels of responsibility. We are trying to enhance the career mobility of logistics practitioners through our career mobility frameworks and by building different pathways to certification that address entry-level through to strategic-level practitioners.
We are delivering professional development in training, ranging again from the entry level right through to the strategic level, and we've recently established a Logistics Workforce Development Council, which is directly responsible for supporting research into and the creation of labour market development strategies.
Linda Lucus, a board member with the institute, is going to address some of the key employability issues we've been dealing with.