News

The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) has secured three years of core funding to continue its work to address skills development issues within the printing industry.



The funding was announced yesterday by the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, with the funds coming from the Government of Canada through its Sector Council Program. The funding totals $1,476,000 over three years.



CPISC Board Co-Chair, Duncan Brown, said the continued support for CPISC highlighted the value of its work to date. “As the printing industry’s sector council, CPISC has delivered some key tools that are helping the industry to move forward,” he said.



“We have developed nationally agreed Skill Standards that are being used to guide print education and in-house training programs and we have compiled industry data that is being used to identify human resource trends and challenges.



“Over the next few years, we plan to build on the accomplishments to date to deliver a greater range of tools that will help the industry recruit, retain and train the skilled staff it needs to thrive and prosper.”



Fellow CPISC Co-Chair, Jeff Ekstein, noted that while the current economic situation may have slowed the demand for print, the focus on skills will provide long-term benefits for the industry. “In the short term, the reality is that if print companies need to make tough decisions to scale down operations, employers need to have confidence that their team has the right mix of skills to get the job done,” he said.



“In the longer-term, while the economy will improve, the printing industry is facing the retirement of many of its employees, half of whom are currently aged 45 or above. Print companies need to replace retirees with competent, knowledgeable employees who are able to continually update and develop their skills over the course of their careers.



“Through the work of CPISC our goal is to ensure that the industry has access to a skilled workforce–something that will bring benefit to print company owners and the 80,000 plus people they employ.”



About CPISC

The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council, funded by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program, is a not-for-profit organization responsible for spearheading the human resources strategy of Canada’s printing and graphics communication sector.



For further information and interviews, please contact:

Marie Eveline, CPISC Executive Director, 613-688-0293, ext 2.