Colleges Ontario is the advocacy and outreach association of Ontario’s 21 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and three College Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. Colleges Ontario advocates for policy improvements and measures that will help produce the skilled workforce that is needed to strengthen Ontario’s competitive advantage. Colleges Ontario provides strategic counsel and services to advance Ontario’s colleges as a learning resource of choice and a key gateway to both Ontario’s and Canada’s success. Colleges Ontario’s services to colleges include: •advocacy and communications •research and policy development •information co-ordination •professional development Colleges Ontario’s current activities include: •co-ordinating advocacy and outreach campaigns for policy improvements that support colleges in their role as a major contributor to employability, economic development and technological innovation •publishing newsletters, reports, directories and briefing material to support planning and outreach •building the Ontario college leadership network through meetings, workshops, and conferences •providing research support for advocacy and policy development issues such as funding, governance, student access, transferability and retention Colleges Ontario is financed by all member colleges on a voluntary basis, with dues assessed according to enrolment, and by OCAS.