Workforce Development Board

What Workforce Development Board does

Workforce Development Board (WDB) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization founded in 1996 and headquartered in Lindsay, Ontario, that serves as the regional workforce planning body for Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Muskoka. It is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, with co-funding from Employment Ontario, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario, and operates with a team of approximately 23 employees. All services are delivered free of charge to job seekers and employers in the region.

WDB's core platform is the Local Jobs Hub, a web-based job aggregation tool that pulls listings from over 45 online job boards — including JobBank.gc.ca, Workopolis.ca, Indeed, Kijiji, and regional sites — and surfaces them through a searchable listing interface and an interactive Regional Job Map. Surrounding this core are complementary tools: the Labour Market Gateway, Labour Market Insights Report, Skill Demand Report, EmployerOne Survey, Resume Builder, Cover Letter Generator, and the LMI Help Desk, which together provide localized labour market intelligence. The organization also coordinates apprenticeship pathways (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program with three regional school boards, plus Pre-Apprenticeship and Adult Education services) and refers clients to a network of community employment service providers, including specialized supports for persons with disabilities.

The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial: WDB generates no revenue from end users, with services priced at zero for both job seekers and employers. Its economic model is sustained by ongoing government appropriations and statutory mandates for regional labour market coordination, with go-to-market executed through its own digital channels (website, social media, email newsletters) and a referral network of school boards, colleges, community organizations, and disability employment service providers. The organization publishes recurring planning outputs, including the 2025-2026 Local Labour Market Planning Report and a 2026-2027 Upcoming Projects roadmap, signaling continued investment in research and employer engagement resources.

Name

Workforce Development Board

Legal name

Workforce Development Board

Website

https://wdb.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Workforce Development Board is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1996 and funded by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, that aggregates jobs from 45+ boards and delivers free labour market intelligence, apprenticeship programs, and employment support services to job seekers and employers across Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Muskoka.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Apprenticeship Training (611513), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Workforce Development & Inclusive Employment (Job Training, Placement) (BPAGALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workforce & Job-Seeker Services (Community-Based) (EDAAAFAM), Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ), State/Provincial Labor, Employment Standards & Workforce Development Administration (BPAIABAN)

Keywords

• Workforce development services
• Labour market information
• Job aggregation platform
• Employment support services
• Apprenticeship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lindsay

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Workforce Development Board operates a not-for-profit regional workforce development organization funded by Employment Ontario. Its core offering is the Local Jobs Hub, a job aggregation platform that pulls postings from over 45 job boards and displays them on an interactive Regional Job Map and searchable listings for the Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton and Muskoka region. It supplements this with labour market intelligence tools, an LMI Help Desk, resume/cover letter builders, apprenticeship programs, and free employment support services connecting job seekers, employers, school boards, and employment service providers.

Product overview

Workforce Development Board operates a not-for-profit workforce development organization that serves Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton as a platform offering multiple interconnected employment and labour market services. The core product is the Local Jobs Hub, an aggregation platform that collects job postings from over 45+ job boards and displays them via the Regional Job Map and Regional Job Listings tools. Supporting modules include the Labour Market Gateway for interactive labour market data, the Labour Market Insights Report for employer/recruiter behavior analytics, and the Skill Demand Report for analyzing in-demand skills. Additional tools include Resume Builder and Cover Letter Generator for job seekers, plus the LMI Help Desk for personalized labour market inquiries. Employment Support Services provide free job search resources through Employment Ontario funding. The organization also facilitates apprenticeship programs (OYAP for youth, Pre-Apprenticeship Program for adults) and adult education and training services through community partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Local Jobs Hub Web-based job aggregation platform that collects postings from over 45 job boards in the eastern Ontario region and displays them via searchable listings and an interactive map for job seekers and employers.
• Regional Job Map

Quantifiable outcome

• Reaches thousands of users from across Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Haliburton & Muskoka
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills DevelopmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1996Primary government funder establishing WDB's mandate to coordinate workforce development in the eastern Ontario region. Provides funding and strategic direction for regional labour market planning and employment services.
• Government of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder of Employment Ontario services, providing federal support for workforce development initiatives in the region.
• Government of OntariocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder of Employment Ontario services alongside the Government of Canada, supporting WDB's free employment services.
• Kawartha Pine Ridge District School BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool board partner for Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), connecting high school students with apprenticeship opportunities in the trades.
• Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board (PVNC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCatholic school board partner for OYAP program, facilitating youth entry into apprenticeship and skilled trades careers.
• Trillium Lakelands District School BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool board partner for OYAP program serving Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton regions, connecting students with apprenticeship pathways.
• Contact NordminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAdult education and training service provider for Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton regions.
• Sir Sandford Fleming CollegeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAcademic upgrading and pre-apprenticeship training provider through Fleming College's Academic Upgrading program available across the region.
• John Howard Society of Kawartha Lakes and HaliburtonminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCommunity organization providing adult education and literacy programs in the Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton area.
• Aide à l'emploi pour les personnes handicapées — Centre-EstminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional employment assistance service for persons with disabilities, connecting individuals with specialized workplace support.
• Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) - Employment SupportsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvincial program providing employment assistance and workplace accommodations for Ontario Disability Support Program recipients.
• Ontario Works - Employment AssistanceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvincial program offering employment assistance for Ontario Works recipients seeking job placement support.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Global job-search incumbent that is both a key upstream source for WDB's aggregation and a direct competitor on job-seeker and employer attention in the same regional market.
• Job Bank (Government of Canada): Federal national job board and LMI portal that WDB's Local Jobs Hub actually aggregates from; a much larger incumbent offering overlapping job-search and labour-market information capabilities at national scope.
• Employment Ontario: The Ontario government program network that funds and frames WDB's mandate; a broader incumbent that aggregates employment services across the province and sets the policy context in which WDB operates.

Direct peers

• Peel-Halton Workforce Development Group: Workforce development organization serving the Peel and Haliburton-area employer and job-seeker communities with LMI and employment services funded through the same Ontario employment services ecosystem.
• JVS Toronto: Toronto-based nonprofit delivering employment services, career counselling, and specialized employment supports — comparable to WDB in mission and service mix, though operating at urban scale rather than regional coordination.
• Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin: Ontario workforce planning board delivering comparable LMI, employer engagement, and job-seeker support services for the Waterloo/Wellington/Dufferin region under the same Employment Ontario mandate as WDB.
• London Region Employment Council: London-area employment and workforce development council providing job-seeker services, employer connections, and labour-market information in a model structurally similar to WDB's regional coordination role.
• Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie: Another Ontario designated workforce planning board that performs the same local labour-market planning, LMI, and employment service coordination role for a different regional catchment, funded through the same Employment Ontario framework.

Emerging players

• CharityVillage: Canadian nonprofit-focused job board and career resource hub; an emerging player in the employment-services space that intersects with WDB's social-services and community-employer audiences.
• Magnet: Canadian employment and talent platform with a focus on newcomer and inclusive hiring; addresses a partially overlapping labour-market segment with modern product capabilities that compete for the same employer and job-seeker audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WorkforceDB
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@workforcedb/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/WorkforceDB
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/workforce-development-board
• Instagraminstagram.com/workforcedb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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