Call for Interviewees and Focus Group Participants in National Labour Market Study

Engineers are being invited to participate in an engineering and engineering technology  labour market study being conducted under the auspices of Engineers Canada and the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists.  The labour market study is divided into five distinct components:

  • Current demand forecast;
  • Demographic and supply analysis;
  • Analysis of attitudes and policies towards licensure, certification, continuing competence and work task boundaries;
  • Diversity study; and
  • Analysis of the globalization of the profession.

Volunteers are needed to participate in a focus group session and executive interviews. The engineers for the focus group must be mainly from the consulting industry, manufacturing, resource, or government (municipal, provincial, and federal).  The focus group session, to be held Wednesday, March 12, 2008 from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm in Burnaby is one of several being convened across Canada. The principal theme of these focus groups is changing work boundaries. This call for focus group participants is associated with component number three.

Engineers and engineering technicians/technologists from APEGBC and the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of British Columbia (ASTTBC), respectively, are being solicited for the focus group session that can only accommodate a maximum of 15 participants.  Since space is limited, only the participants selected will be confirmed on a first-come-first-served basis.  The event provides a unique networking opportunity to participate in the first combined engineering and technology labour market study in Canada.  Light catering will be provided.

If you are interested in participating, please complete the registration form, and return by e-mail to programlaunchpad@gmail.com no later than Wednesday, February 27, 2008.

In addition to convening several focus group sessions across Canada, the engineering and engineering technology labour market study is also preparing for some 40 executive interviews to be conducted by phone in February and March 2008.  The target for these interviews would be chief engineers or production/process managers in medium to large employers with responsibility for design, research and development, or operations.  The study is looking for industry participation in the executive interviews.  Each interview would last no more than 30 minutes, and would focus on:

  • Continuous learning needs
  • Current sources of professional training
  • Current policies and practices
  • Potential role of professional and technical associations, and
  • Policies/attitudes towards licensure and certification

 

If you are interested in participating in an executive interview, please contact Hanan  Katerina Jibry, P.Eng. (ON) at programlaunchpad@gmail.com.