Toronto - On Monday, November 16th, 2009, the Martin Prosperity Institute, in partnership with the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity, the Intergovernmental Committee for Economics and Labour Force Development, and the City of Toronto, Economic Development, Culture, and Tourism Division will be hosting a Summit on Transforming Service Jobs called "Strength in Service." It will be held at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon on the Second Floor of the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The event is a direct response to the Ontario in the Creative Age Report's recommendation that the "Premier or the Ministers of Economic Development and Labour host a summit on redesigning jobs for creativity. We strongly urge the province to focus especially on routine-oriented service occupations, which employ the largest number of Ontarians, and where there is a big need and an opportunity to improve the wages as well as the content of their work" (31). During the summit, participants will be challenged to think creatively about what can be done to foster a world class service culture and transform service jobs in Toronto, the region, and the Province of Ontario, with a diverse audience representing the service sector, public sector, private sector, and academia.

The Summit will be moderated by Steve Paikin, host of TVO's The Agenda. Speakers include: Richard Florida, Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute; Mayor David Miller, City of Toronto; Vikas Kapoor, President and CEO of iQor; and Anil Verma, Professor and Interim Director, Center for Industrial Relations Human Resources, University of Toronto.

"The great promise of our time is that, for the first time in human history, the logic of economic development and prosperity requires that we harness and develop our full human potential. Economic development requires a higher level of human performances" - Roger Martin and Richard Florida, Ontario in the Creative Age