• Français
Future Skills Center logo
Français
Polygon Created with Sketch. Home | Research
Research

What Are Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions Saying and Doing? Social and Emotional Skills

Canadian post-secondary institutions are not prioritizing social and emotional skills acquisition for students, despite their growing importance to employers. More emphasis must be placed on ensuring students develop these skills.

Key Takeaways

1

Despite strong employer demand for social and emotional skills (SES) like creativity and problem-solving, post-secondary institutions (PSIs) as a whole aren’t prioritizing them.

2

Only one in five post-secondary strategic plans mention holistic SES development.

3

To prepare students for career success, PSIs must give more weight to social and emotional skills development. To do this, they need to translate SES priorities into applied training and assessment.

Executive Summary

Employers in Canada are increasingly seeking new hires with well-developed social and emotional skills (SES) and are moving away from hiring and rewarding workers based on their technical skills.

However, Canadian post-secondary institutions (PSIs) have not caught up with this shift. A review and analysis of PSIs’ strategic plans reveals a lack of emphasis on student acquisition of SES, with such instruction largely relegated to elective and extra-curricular activities. This issue is common to both universities and colleges.

PSIs must do more to equip graduates with the social and emotional skills they will need to succeed and thrive in the workplaces of today and tomorrow, and this focus must begin at the strategic level.

Related Content

Bread field harvesting
Research

Technology and Agriculture: Adoption and Barriers

  • December 2025
  • Diversity Institute
Without explicit educational support, small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and diverse-owned agribusiness may be left out of the AgTech revolution. Skills-based supports are needed to maintain market competitiveness and ensure technology literacy and adoption issues are equalized—not accentuated—among groups.
2 Related Reports
Two farmers examining soy crops
Research

Supporting Rural Agriculture Entrepreneurship: Reframing the Discourse

  • December 2025
  • Diversity Institute
This research examined how agriculture sector stereotypes impair the growth and sustainability of the sector. Rural agriculture entrepreneurs face several challenges more than traditional businesses.
2 Related Reports
Worker checks a car during factory assembly
Research

Learning from Place-Based Approaches on the Road to Net Zero : International Lessons in Skills Training and Workforce Development

  • December 2025
  • Institute for Research and Public Policy (IRPP)
Global and Canadian efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shift away from fossil fuels have created a central policy question: How can workers, sectors and regions adapt and develop the skills needed for a low-carbon future?
1 Related Reports