1970
- Night school opened offering leisure classes at the Halton District School Board
1983
- Self-Reliant Learning Program started – 140 students registered in the first year
1987
- Head office opened at Singleton Centre in Burlington
1989/1990
- Adult Counselling office opens at General Brock High School
- Self-Reliant Learning program grows
- Teen Mother Education program offered
- ESL Coordinator role established
- Office & program locations expanding all over Halton
- Staff lobbies to have their own school
- Adult Ed. Admin. Office moves (small room in the middle of the hallway, later becoming the child minding room for ESL)
1990
- Lockhart Education Centre opens – Burlington becomes head office for Cont. Ed.
- Vacant location needed; no offices for staff, together in big rooms
- First government-funded program – Basic Skills in the Workplace (Jobs Ontario)
- First Skilled Trades program – Building Maintenance Management program
1990-1993
- First Marketing Coordinator hired – created the first course calendar
- Programs continue to grow – entrepreneurial business grows
- LINC funding for ESL programs begin – more opportunities for The Centre
- Adult Computer Training Centre in Burlington opens – first storefront with professional setting for adult education
- Opportunities expand involving technology and adult educational programs
- Personal interest programs developing
- Successful Instructor program developed and delivered to Personal Interest subject experts marking the beginning of the Adult Education Certificate program
- Developed first partnership program with Halton Region – Jobs Ontario/Milton ACT Centre opened with HRDC funding for the Career Explorations of the 90s program
1994-1996
- Career Action Centre (Oakville) opened with HRDC funding
- Career Explorations begins; Career Services Department is created
- JOY, Assessments, Job Shop programs are created – lots more to come!
- Adult High School thrives- 2,000 students and 56 staff
- More project funding available
1996
- Major changes implemented by the Ministry of Education, affecting staff
1997
- Halton Adult Education – new name
- Growth prompts interest in moving Burlington site and Career Action Centre into one facility – storefront space wanted
- Board facility audit required; Halton Adult Education to move into the back of Lord Elgin High School
1998
- Decision made to formalize a split between the Adult High School and growing “Projects Branch”
- The Centre becomes a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with the Halton District School Board under the new legal name of “Fast Track – Community Centre for Skills Development and Training”
- New operating guidelines – Roles of Board of Directors and Chief Administrative officer are created
1998-2003
- Satellite sites open – Oakville, Milton and Georgetown
- The Centre continues to grow, though space is becoming a problem
- Space committee seeks a new location (in a non-school location)
- July 1, 2003 – moved to 860 Harrington Court in Burlington
- Create a partnership centre – over 12 complimentary organizations and programs under one roof
- Bay Area Learning Centre opens
2004
- Commencement of the Personal Leadership initiative
- The Centre implements its strategic plan and focuses its goals on the following four strategic priorities: Impact, Infrastructure, Income and Image
- The Centre serves over 13,000 clients
2005
- Three more employment resource centres open – Oakville, Milton and Georgetown
- The Centre serves over 24,000 clients
- Site opens to offer Career Explorations for the Mississauga community
2006
- A second Mississauga site opens in Malton to offer “Career Possibilities for Newcomers”
- The Centre’s Corporate Services department takes off
- New programs and services for newcomers are introduced/added to ESL and LINC language training
- The Centre’s pre-apprenticeship programs take off, including company-sponsored and industry partnership programs
- The Centre serves over 38,000 clients
2007
- First annual Skilled Trades Graduation honours 160 Centre students
- New manufacturing scholarship is established by The Centre’s Board of Directors to honour former school trustee, Ethel Gardiner; first scholarship is awarded to Halton District School Board graduate entering Centre Pre-Apprenticeship program in Manufacturing
- The Centre serves over 40,561 clients
- CentrePoint, The Centre’s intranet, is launched
- Abbeywood newcomer site opens in Oakville
