CHAPTER 1: The Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative (AWPI)

  The Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative is a national initiative designed to help employers recruit, retain and promote Aboriginal employees. In this chapter, you will become familiar with AWPI's structure and how it hopes to achieve its goals.

This section gives a quick synopsis of the business advantages of employing Aboriginal peoples.

AWPI's mandate and objectives are described in this section, along with examples of activities that AWPI Regional Coordinators undertake with various partners.

AWPI's mission statement is provided to help you better understand the initiative's mandate and objectives.

CHAPTER 2: The AWPI Employer Toolkit

  The AWPI Employer Toolkit is designed to be user-friendly. With a detailed cross-referencing system, it meets the challenge of making information readily accessible to a diverse clientele.

Find out why the AWPI Employer Toolkit was developed.

Although the AWPI Employer Toolkit is designed for employers, different personnel within the company, as outlined in this section, will be able to use it. Anyone who picks it up will find useful information!

This section describes how to access information throughout the toolkit in the most efficient manner.

CHAPTER 3: The Business Environment for Aboriginal Employment

  The employment of Aboriginal peoples has a direct relationship to many other business issues, both long-term strategic issues and day-to-day operating considerations. In this chapter, you will find information to help your organization understand what those business considerations might be.

This section is designed to help you understand the business case for Aboriginal employment and develop your own business reasons for employing Aboriginal peoples.

Demographic and statistical information (graphs and charts) is presented to enhance the understanding of the business environment for Aboriginal workforce participation.

This section provides brief information on laws and policies that can impact the business environment for Aboriginal workforce participation.

CHAPTER 4: Effective Practices

  Increasing Aboriginal workforce participation takes commitment, planning and effort. Knowing about specific practices that have been used, tested and validated by employers can help. In this chapter, you will find ideas and examples of the types of actions used by many leading employers in Canada-ideas which you can adopt, replicate or modify to suit your own needs.

This section is geared to employers making their first efforts to introduce or increase Aboriginal employment.

Senior managers share their views on the importance of contributing to the successful implementation of Aboriginal employment initiatives.

This section highlights the issues that employers should address when taking steps to enhance the recruitment, retention and advancement of Aboriginal employees.

This section contains summary information of specific initiatives undertaken by leading corporations in Canada. Refer to the examples to learn more.

A comprehensive checklist of practices that leading corporations in Canada have used to develop relations with Aboriginal communities as well as to increase Aboriginal employment is provided for benchmarking purposes.

CHAPTER 5: Aboriginal Awareness

  The foundation for constructive relationships-based on trust and mutual respect-is knowledge and understanding. In this chapter, you will find information about Aboriginal peoples in Canada, as well as guidance to further develop your understanding of Aboriginal issues and to establish relationships with Aboriginal communities.

Unfortunately, myths regarding Aboriginal peoples are common in today's society. Facts in this section dispel 10 frequently encountered misconceptions.

This section is designed to help employers understand the value of building awareness and understanding of Aboriginal peoples. Establishing Relationships with Aboriginal Communities Items for consideration that employers should keep in mind when establishing relationships with Aboriginal peoples and communities are outlined in this section.

Elders play an important role in their communities. To learn more about what they have to contribute, find out how three Elders perceive their part in traditional and contemporary situations.

Four themes, derived from Section 5.7 ("Milestones in Aboriginal History"), are provided to facilitate a greater understanding of historical and contemporary issues.

This section provides summary information about the history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada, both pre- and post-European contact. Aboriginal Linguistic and Community Groups This section highlights the cultural and linguistic diversity of Aboriginal peoples in Canada as well as geographical information.

CHAPTER 6: Resources Available to Employers

  Employers can access a wide range of other resources to facilitate their employment of Aboriginal peoples. This chapter includes contact lists, education and training programs, and information about relevant resource materials.

A list and short biographies of AWPI Regional Coordinators working across Canada are provided. Contact them-they are there to help!

The mandate, structure and activities of the six most prominent national Aboriginal organizations are broadly defined, as per their communication materials.

You will find a list and a brief description of Aboriginal organizations you may wish to contact for assistance and to establish relationships.

This section includes a listing and brief description of placement agencies, inventories and educational institutions relevant to the recruitment of Aboriginal peoples.

You will find a list and a description of sources of Aboriginal awareness education and training courses you may wish to choose from.

Information about training and employment programs that may help you recruit Aboriginal employees is provided in this section. Off-the-Shelf Resource Materials An annotated bibliography presents relevant books, articles, videos and CD-ROMs about issues related to Aboriginal workforce participation.

A list of bookmarks outlines sites that provide information relevant to the Aboriginal environment.

Six checklists are provided for quick-reference purposes. They are:

• Getting Started-Ideas for Action
• Aboriginal Peoples-Test Your Knowledge
• Establishing Relationships
• Services to Recruit Aboriginal Employees
• Aboriginal Awareness and,
• Programs Geared to Aboriginal Employment.

  Glossary of Terms

  Brief explanations of the many terms and issues that employers may come across as they develop and implement initiatives to enhance Aboriginal workforce participation are provided for awareness purposes.