Partnerships
CCCO activities are all carried out through or in partnership with arts service organizations and organizations which employ or engage cultural workers. Further, each of CCCO's initiatives is the result of partnerships, with funding organizations, service providers, and representatives from within and outside the sector.
CCCO exists because members of the arts and cultural community recognized common goals and needs, and gave time and expertise to pursuing the goals of human resource funding and management for all in the sector. CCCO was organized by an alliance of arts and cultural organizations, artists' unions, and individual cultural professionals to address the career needs of this vital sector.
Work in Culture: HR Spotlight
An important and far-reaching cultural human resources initiative, Work in Culture: HR Spotlight was developed by CCCO and supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Work in Culture: HR Spotlight is a multi-year project focusing on human resources knowledge and skills development in Ontario's cultural sector, that will break new ground in raising awareness of the value of human resources knowledge and practises. CCCO is developing programs, materials, and training relevant to Ontario's cultural sector to address the human resources needs and deficiencies that make the sector increasingly vulnerable.
Human Resources Initiatives Program (HRIP)
Human Resources Initiatives Program had a special emphasis on meeting human resource needs in the cultural sector. In June 2002, consultations with the cultural community identified these needs and a report was distributed on the findings. Requests for Proposals for projects went out to the arts community, with the 21 approved projects completed in December 2003.
Career Initiatives in Culture Programs (CICP)
In 2000, Human Resources Development Canada provided $460,000 for CCCO grants to 20 projects around the province, after a jury reviewed over 50 proposals. These projects enhanced labour market information, built up resource networks, and added to the capacity of individual workers to pursue their careers over the long term, thereby strengthening the organizations which carried out these projects. A successor program in 2001, involving 25 projects, was completed in early 2002.
Youth Wage Subsidy Programs
CCCO initiated and administered a province-wide youth internship program, with funding support from Human Resources Development Canada, for post-secondary graduates upgrading their skills through practical experience in cultural organizations.
CCCO's access to and input of sector-wide knowledge facilitated setting internship expectations and guidelines, and receiving quick responses and timely input about sector internship needs across the province.
The Youth Wage Subsidy Program launched in 2000, with 24 cultural organizations across Ontario sharing $125,000 in wage subsidies for interns. In 2002, the Youth Wage Subsidy Program funded internships in 25 cultural organizations, and a follow-up survey showed that 24 of the interns had become employed. In 2003, 38 interns were selected for assignments, and a 2005 Program supported 16 internships.
The Youth Wage Subsidy Program is not currently operating.
On Line Learning Project
In partnership with the University of Waterloo (and its Centre for Cultural Management) and Distributed Education Systems Inc., and support from the Office of Learning Technologies (HRDC), CCCO administered a two year program that developed interactive on-line case study applications for learning modules tailored to the needs of the cultural sector.
Industry-University Dialogue
CCCO co-hosted a Symposium in 2000 which brought together 40 representatives of Ontario Universities and the Cultural Sector to examine curriculum, professional development, and transition the workplace. The Report of the Symposium was made available to universities, libraries, and others. A one day seminar on intellectual property protection was recommended by the Symposium and held in 2001.
A.I.M. Apprenticeship, Internship & Mentorship
Through research, discussion with our many industry contacts, past experience in developing and delivering cultural career training programs, and the information gained at the grass roots level, we have learned that all results point to A.I.M.- apprenticeship, internship and mentorship - as the most effective model of training for work in this field. While the sector applauds and endorses the quality of existing college and university training programs, those programs do not have the flexibility to fully and quickly address most of the evolving and changing needs of the sector.
