NEWS RELEASE May 30, 2018

Beacon Community Services extends employment services program

Gives post-secondary students an edge as they launch their careers

VICTORIA, BC – Local employers and post-secondary students will benefit from the extension of a program that connects skilled youth with employers in high-demand sectors. Beacon Community Services announced today that its EDGE Career Focus program will be extended to May 2019.

“Even highly qualified students sometimes need help to find work that’s going to make the best use of their skills and prepare them for success in their field,” says Beacon CEO Bob Boulter.

“Our EDGE Career Focus program does that. It also gives employers an incentive to bring new staff into the workplace, where employers benefit from their enthusiasm and up-to-date knowledge and techniques and new employees get hands-on experience and learn the realities of the work environment.”

The program partially funds participants’ salary for placements with private and not-for-profit occupations in high-demand, specialized fields such as business, social services, tourism, and trades and technology.

Employers with fewer than 500 workers are eligible; the funded workers must meet various criteria, including not being on Employment Insurance (EI), being 30 or younger, and having at least some postsecondary education in a field of study related to the work placement. As part of the program, which started in the spring of 2016, Beacon Community Services employment advisors also provide mentoring and assist employers in evaluating the worker.

About Beacon Community Services’ Employment Supports: Beacon Community Services is a community-based charity that provides a wide array of care and supports for thousands of people on southern Vancouver Island and the outer Gulf Islands. Its Employment Services division has two offices, one on Salt Spring Island (268 Fulford-Ganges Rd.) and one in Sidney, at 9860 Third St.

Beacon’s Employment Services centres work in partnership with government and other agencies to help meet eligible clients’ employment and employer hiring needs, free of charge. Supports include employment counseling, workshops, wage subsidy, a resource centre, financial supports, retraining and much more.

Its Career Focus program is funded through the Government of Canada’s Career Focus program.

For more information on Beacon Community Services, please visit: www.beaconcs.ca

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MEDIA ONLY contact: Kerry Readshaw 778-351-1993; (C) 250-516-8375 kreadshaw@beaconcs.ca

EMPLOYER/POST-SECONDARY ONLY contact: Mike Watts 250-655-5326 mwatts@beaconcs.ca