NEPEAN, ONTARIO, March 15, 2010—Post-secondary graduates will get an opportunity to enhance and develop their employment skills at the Nepean Museum, as a result of a project sponsored by the Government of Canada. The Honourable John Baird, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Ottawa West–Nepean, made the announcement today on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.
“For more than 25 years, the Nepean Museum has been contributing to the richness of our community through its unique educational projects, programs and exhibits,” said Minister Baird. “Today, I am pleased to announce funding that will allow the Museum to extend its expertise to post-secondary graduates seeking job experience in education and cultural heritage projects.”
The Nepean Museum will receive $27,300 in Career Focus funding to support its Interpretative and Educational Outreach project. This funding will allow two recent post-secondary graduates to be hired as an education assistant and an exhibit assistant. The Education Assistant will be helping the Education Manager in all aspects of programming, from creation to evaluation, and the Exhibit Assistant will be helping the Curator in developing the exhibit Neighbourhoods and researching an exhibit set to display in 2011.
“Having two extra staff will assist us in reaching goals we have identified in both educational programming and exhibit development,” said Ms. Lindsay MacDonald, Director and Curator of the Nepean Museum. “This program provides organizations like ours with much-needed extra staff and offers these recent graduates a quality work experience and marketable skills in the heritage sector.”
The Nepean Museum was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1983, and, in 1989, it opened its doors at its new location—16 Rowley Avenue. The Museum provides various educational programs and has temporary and fixed in-house exhibits.
The federal government continues to work with the provinces and territories, community organizations and other stakeholders to provide Canadians with the training, skills and opportunities they need to get jobs and contribute to their communities.
Career Focus is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.The Government underscored this commitment in Canada’s Economic Action Plan. A key component of the Plan is to create more and better opportunities for Canadian workers through skills development. To learn more about Canada’s Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.
The Career Focus program is delivered by Service Canada, which provides one-stop personalized services for Government of Canada programs, services and benefits. For more information about this program, visit www.servicecanada.gc.ca, call 1 800 O‑Canada or drop by your local Service Canada Centre.
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This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.
For further information (media only):
Michelle Bakos
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482
James Kusie
Director of Issues Management
Office of Minister Baird
613-991-0700
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
