Every time an employer provides a student the opportunity to gain work-related knowledge, skills and experience, they make an incalculable positive contribution to the quality of a young person's life and career prospects.

In 2010, the Provincial Partnership Council established the Passport to Prosperity Ontario Employer designation to recognize extraordinary employers that are supporting the futures of significant numbers of young people across the province.

The Passport to Prosperity Ontario Employer designation is part of the Passport to Prosperity campaign, which has worked for more than a decade to encourage school-work partnerships and employer participation in experiential learning programs.

To earn this annual designation an employer must provide at least 50 experiential learning opportunities for students in the previous academic year (September through August). The designation recognizes both student placements, like cooperative education, mentoring and job shadowing; and outreach activities, like career fairs, workplace tours and classroom presentations.

Recipients of the designation are presented with a commemorative plaque and accompanying certificate signed by Ontario's Minister of Education and publicly acknowledged for their important contributions. They also enjoy the right to use the Passport to Prosperity Ontario Employer emblem in their corporate, marketing and communications materials.

The deadline for 2011 applications is Monday, October 24th, 2011. Only information pertaining to the 2010-2011 academic year (September 2010 through August 2011) will be considered by the review committee.

The following types of school-work opportunities are recognized by the designation:

Applications are assessed using a simple point system. A minimum total of 50 points is required to earn the designation. One point is awarded for every school-work opportunity, either student placement or outreach activity, provided by an employer in the applicable academic year.

Note: Student placements are awarded one point for every participating student.