The labour market shift: Training a highly skilled and resilient workforce in Ontario

This working paper examines Ontario’s changing labour market and skills, employer-driven training, and government skills training programs. Ontario’s labour market has changed. For Ontarians to remain resilient in face of this change, they must be equipped with skills that are transferable across occupations and sectors. The main findings include that most workplace spending on training is concentrated among large, private-sector firms and for highly educated individuals, and that Employment Ontario programs have not kept pace with the changing labour market. The working paper proposes ten recommendations for employers, government, and educational institutions to prepare Ontario’s workforce to be resilient in the face of current and future labour market shifts.