Want more reasons to attend and take way the latest in contact center management, supervision and operations techniques from RCCSP Professional Education Alliance’s intensive four-day call center training and certification sessions in Toronto, Ontario Canada July 11-15?

Consider that Canada’s small cities especially continue to be hot locations for contact centers to serve the country’s relatively (compared with the U.S.) booming economy. Contact centers continue to locate and in some cases relocate and expand in these urban areas, requiring managers to train and coach new agent hires. These communities have excellent, available, affordable and loyal workforces, abetted by higher unemployment rates and few other job opportunities in the immediate environs than in the larger conurbs.

The evidence is contained in these news stories:

*          The Vancouver (British Columbia.) Sun reported June 30 that communications carrier Telus has added 130 new agent positions at its Prince George, B.C. contact center as part of a $1.5 million upgrade to the facility.

“The hirings have been ongoing since January and with renovations now complete the final two groups of agents have been hired,” says the paper. “They will begin training in July and August.”

“The first major upgrade to the Prince George centre commenced in 2008 with a $1.3 million renovation that allowed the workforce to expand from 75 to 166 agents. With the 2011 renovation, Telus will employ about 400 team members in the community, the company said in a news release.”

*          The CBC reported June 30 that ING Direct is planning to relocate its contact center from Ottawa, Ontario, the nation’s capital and move to Moncton, New Brunswick. New Brunswick Premier David Alward is scheduled to make the announcement this week.

“The international banking company has decided to move its bilingual call center operation to Moncton, and most of the 130 employees will be offered a chance to relocate,” says the broadcaster. “Business New Brunswick and Enterprise Greater Moncton have been trying to lure the ING jobs to the province for some time.”

“News reports out of Ottawa say ING has run into difficulty recruiting and keeping qualified people.”

“The job market in the capital is highly competitive. The minimum hourly wage in Ontario is $10.50 — a dollar more per hour than in New Brunswick.”

“[Premier] Alward is expected to explain next week what, if any, incentives were given to ING to relocate. These could include tax breaks, loans or job training assistance - incentives other call centres in the province have received.”

“The company will start hiring employees next month, but it will take several months to transfer operations from Ottawa to Moncton.”

Many of these communities had drawn nearshore contact centers from the U.S. some 8-15 years ago with low costs and highly available labor forces. Moncton, which once depended on railroads for much of its employment, turned to contact centers in the 1990s when the former industry faded away, though not completely disappeared. Prince George, a newcomer as a contact center location (I toured one of its first centers, in 2001), is the hub of the province’s struggling forestry industry, hard hit by weak North American demand and mountain pine beetle infestations.

As the Canadian dollar ascended in value against the U.S. currency (Canada’s dollar, once as low as 38 cents less is now two to five cents more), raising costs, most of the nearshore centers returned Stateside. And while many Canadian customer contacts are now being offshored: to Africa, Latin America and the Philippines, bilingual requirements, the need for high skillsets and other domestic market considerations are keeping them and enabling their expansion in Canada.

The RCCSP Professional Education Alliance’s Canadian contact center training and certification event features these seminars at the Toronto event:

*          Boot camps for Call Center Engineering, Management and Workforce Management Hands-on Certification

*          Call Center Manager Training and Certification

*          Call Center Metrics, Data Analytics and Reporting

*          Contact Center Foundations

*          Contact Center Metrics: Tactical Uses That Drive Performance

*          Designing Six Sigma Contact Centers

*          Fundamentals of Call Center Workforce Management

*          IVR Design Training: Streamlining the Customer Experience

*          Supervisory and Leadership Skills for Contact Center Supervisors

*          Telecom Expense Management

For more information on the contact center training and certification and venue please click here or call the RCCSP Professional Education Alliance at 708-246-0320.