Local, provincial and federal politicians met at the historic Willistead Manor in Windsor, Ont., on Monday morning to discuss job creation and economic development. (Pat Jeflyn/CBC)Skills development will be the key to tackling unemployment throughout Ontario but especially in Windsor, Ont., where the unemployment rate is consistently the highest among Canadian cities, a group of federal, provincial and local politicians agreed Monday.

The meeting, titled "Economic Development and Jobs Creation Strategy," involved more than two dozen politicians, business representatives and members of the WindsorEssex Development Commission.

It also gave MPs and MPPs their first look at a detailed economic study of Windsor Essex.

The report's ultimate message "confirmed what we all know," said Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who represents the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh. "We have a high level of unemployment in the area and families are suffering.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says his party will 'focus on job creation' in the coming budget. (Pat Jeflyn/CBC)"I think we have to focus on job creation in the coming budget and that involves skills training," Duncan added. "I think the province will be able to help fund this type of initiative over a couple of years."

Duncan said the provincial government would establish Prosperity 2025, a long-term economic plan for Windsor and Essex County.

"We see a lot of good, positive things happening for this region in the short and medium term," Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis told CBC News.

"And that's when the focus changed to, 'OK, how do we start looking for the long term?'"

Windsor in 'crisis'

"We are in a crisis and we cannot downplay our problem," declared a PowerPoint presentation given by the Workforce Development Board Windsor Essex, a group of business, labour, education and government representatives.

Windsor's unemployment rate was 11.6 per cent in November, 3.1 per cent higher than the national average and the highest of cities measured by Statistics Canada.

Regionally, that represents 34,619 people, or $1 billion in potential earning power, according to the presentation. In July, 11, 353 employment insurance recipients in Windsor and Essex County were considered part of the processing and manufacturing sector.

Windsor also falls short in education.

In a study comparing education attainment in Windsor and Essex County with Ontario as a whole, 24.2 per cent of residents have neither a high school diploma nor a degree. This is two per cent higher than the provincial average. Just 19.4 per cent of residents have a university certificate, diploma or degree, 5.2 per cent lower than in the rest of the province.

But "jobs that require less than Grade 12 are disappearing," according to the workforce development board, while two-thirds of "all job openings, from both expansion demand and retirements, will be in occupations usually requiring post-secondary education."

Enter Prosperity 2025.

Plan to provide skills training

The provincial plan would increase access to second-career and skills development by expanding the list of careers eligible for provincially funded training and would expand the number of corresponding training products. It would also require the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the Ministry of Community and Social Services to ensure adequate levels of income for people taking part in the training.

"We did this way back in the early nineties and came up with a number of useful recommendations," Duncan said optimistically. "And both the mayor and the wardens seem to like the idea."

Another focus will be attracting smaller companies that hire between five and 49 workers.

Windsor has traditionally relied on large manufacturing plants, such as those of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, which hire about 500 employees, to fuel its workforce. But the number of companies hiring more than 50 workers fell by more than 13 per cent between December 2003 and June 2009, while the number of companies that hire between five and nine employees rose 24.6 per cent in the same time period.

"Everyone's always been looking to land the big fish," said county Warden Nelson Santos. "Certainly the 100- to 400-job announcements don't seem realistic in these days."

"This is a good first step," Duncan said of the meeting.

Windsor and Essex County councils, as well as local MPPs and MPs, have agreed to meet again in January.