Working, learning and partnership to get to Net Zero
Read more about RRU Career Learning & Development.
A partnership between Royal Roads University and a business organization in its own backyard connects students with potential employers and businesses with prospective team members.
Royal Roads University Career Learning and Development engages with the WestShore Chamber of Commerce to create community connections for the university, talent recruitment support for businesses and employment opportunities for students.
Their current focus is supporting the Career Innovation Project, a two-year initiative funded by the national Business + Higher Education Roundtable to advance Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy. The project wraps up in March 2025, but the partnership between RRU Career Learning and Development and the WestShore Chamber of commerce will continue.
The goals, says Natasha Dilay, associate director of RRU Experiential Learning, is to support students, many of whom are mid-career, in reimagining their profession. From the business side, employers share their insights about emerging needs for certain workplace skills and the future of their enterprises as they move toward net-zero carbon emissions.
“Royal Roads is absolutely an applied university,” Dilay says. “We are responsive to labour market needs and the best way to find out what labour market needs are is by inviting those employers to talk. We’re constantly learning from our industry partners about what is important, what is needed and where our students can take their research.”
In addition, students find opportunities to connect with employers in a variety of settings - from panel discussions in the classroom to webinars to coffee meet-and-greets and other networking events either on campus or in the West Shore community.
As part of this reciprocal relationship, the Chamber encourages its members to host booths at RRU’s annual campus-wide career event; post employment opportunities on Career Roads, the university’s career portal; participate in quarterly mock interviews to support students’ job search skills; and hire or host a work-integrated learning student.
“You have a pool of people, many of whom have come from all over and have already worked in their field, so you can bring people into a workplace to get a project done or a piece of work done or more than that,” says Julie Lawlor, executive director of the WestShore Chamber of Commerce, which serves Colwood, the Highlands, Langford, Metchosin and View Royal, with members from across southern Vancouver Island.
“We’ve got a labour shortage in a variety of areas,” she adds, “so being able to plug into a talent pool like this is really important.”
Lawlor lauds the partnership as well as an ongoing relationship with the university, saying, “Chambers of Commerce are about making connections, and by working directly with Royal Roads in this way, we are able to facilitate this connection as quickly and easily as possible.”
The key, RRU’s Dilay says, is enabling links and conversations between students and businesses.
“Together, they create this wonderful connection by discussing topics they’re invested in: climate action, empowering skills for tomorrow, helping Canada reach net-zero goals and bringing together university students with industry that wants to see how their industry and their company can change,” she says.
Read more about RRU Career Learning & Development.