Future Skills Centre scaling up 10 high-impact skills initiatives to build a resilient economy by design
Toronto, March 31, 2026— The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is fueling the next growth phase of 10 skills training initiatives that have demonstrated high-potential to scale and a clear proof of concept across five provinces.
We are investing $7.8 million, funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program, to provide training and career pathways for approximately 3,500 participants by scaling models that support Canada’s critical sectors.
This investment focuses on broadening the reach of promising skills interventions, including within the healthcare and human services sector by embedding AI literacy into clinical and professional development and improving licensing pathways for internationally trained nurses.
We are driving long-term economic growth by putting leadership and tools directly into the hands of communities and small businesses. We are advancing Indigenous economic leadership in the Northern “blue economy”—from green shipping to marine conservation—while expanding digital training for Indigenous youth to create stronger pathways to careers and entrepreneurship. To support the small and medium-sized businesses that power 90% of the private sector in Canada, we are providing the upskilling tools and AI-driven career coaching needed to ensure local businesses and workers can navigate a rapidly changing labour market with confidence.
To support Canada’s housing goals, we are scaling construction training that helps equity-deserving learners enter the skilled trades while building affordable homes. These projects are opening doors for Black youth to lead in community housing and helping newcomers move past “survival jobs” by aligning their existing skills with apprenticeships and high-demand IT roles.
We are gathering the evidence needed to ensure that as the economy evolves, the pathways to success are accessible to everyone.
Quotes
“To meet Canada’s biggest challenges—from healthcare to the sustainable transition—we need a workforce that can adapt as quickly as the economy. The Future Skills Centre is uniquely positioned to scale proven skills training models to ensure they work for more people in more places. By expanding these initiatives, we are building a more responsive system that turns talent into the national strength Canada needs most.” — Noel Baldwin, Executive Director, Future Skills Centre
“Investing in training and building a strong workforce means preparing people for jobs that will sustain our communities and drive future growth. By supporting sectors that strengthen Canada, such as health care, housing, and the ocean economy, we are equipping people with the skills needed to lead in these essential fields, creating a workforce that not only supports our economy but also lays the foundation for generations to come.” – The Honorable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
Quick Facts
- The Indigenous population is the fastest-growing segment in Canada, with projections that by 2036 it will account between 5.3 percent to 6.7 percent of the Canadian population. Yet Indigenous Peoples are historically underrepresented in the labour market. Tapping into this workforce is critical to supporting a strong economy.
- About one in four immigrants say that a major barrier to their progress at work in Canada is a lack of recognition by employers of their foreign education, professional qualifications and work experience.
- Some estimates say generative AI could add 1.97% to the national GDP, but employers in Canada are lagging behind their international peers in adoption. This gap is widened by a lack of support for the workforce with 44% of Canadians currently using AI report receiving no formal guidance or training from their employers.
- 105K+ people in Canada have received hands-on training and/or job opportunities as a result of the Future Skill Centre’s overall investments in over 420 skills innovation projects designed to meet the challenges of the evolving economy across Canada.
About FSC
The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is a forward-thinking centre for research and collaboration dedicated to driving innovation in skills development so that everyone in Canada can be prepared for the future of work. We partner with policymakers, researchers, practitioners, employers and labour groups, and post-secondary institutions to solve pressing labour market challenges and ensure that everyone can benefit from relevant lifelong learning opportunities. We are founded by a consortium whose members are Toronto Metropolitan University, Blueprint, and Signal49 Research, and are funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program.
Media Contact
Annamaria Nunziata
Communications Manager
Future Skills Centre
communications@fsc-ccf.ca
647-242-6156
Read more about the programs FSC is scaling:
Partner: ECO Canada
ECO Canada’s talent accelerator will help coastal Indigenous communities in Canada’s North prepare more Indigenous workers for the blue economy, expanding skills in aquaculture, green shipping and marine conservation. This is important because although most of Canada’s ocean shoreline exists in the North, Indigenous Peoples are underrepresented in the sector and culturally grounded training has been limited. In 2026, the program will train 150 Indigenous participants in at least 10 communities, deliver microcredentials, secure employer placements and launch a certification system. In the longer-term, the project will embed Indigenous leadership in the ocean workforce.
Partner: SEIU Healthcare
The Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU) has demonstrated that with the right supports, nurses educated internationally who come to Canada can secure licensing and transition into stable, unionized jobs, strengthening the health workforce and improving equity for workers. By scaling up the Career Pathway Program, the union is addressing a critical nursing shortage by creating integrated pathways from arrival through to certification and job placement. By integrating a labour-management partnership model, SEIU is positioning itself to deliver a model that can address workforce shortages in other health care sectors and professions.
Partner: Immigrant Employment Council of British Columbia
Canada’s weak productivity growth is compounded by misalignment between immigrant talent and labour market needs. Newcomers struggle to access meaningful employment and employers are challenged to find the talent they need. The Immigrant Employment Council of B.C.’s FAST program is helping to address the problem by making it easier for employers to assess the skills of the immigrant worker pool. The program is being expanded and improved to link competency assessments directly to training, apprenticeships and jobs in skilled trades, IT and data within small and medium sized enterprises.
Partner: Monumental Projects Inc.
The real estate and housing sector faces persistent barriers that limit career advancement for racialized populations, while Canada misses opportunities to expand community-driven solutions to the housing crisis. The FutureBuilds project is being expanded to achieve greater representation of BIPOC professionals in real estate and housing and increase capacity for Black youth to build careers in the non-profit and community housing sectors.
Partner: Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 90 per cent of private-sector jobs in Canada. To be competitive they need the right people with the right skills, yet they are disproportionately threatened by labour shortages and skills gaps and often don’t have the resources to train staff. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Skills Bridge program is being expanded to provide more SMEs with a catalogue of courses and webinars to help upskill more workers and increase the diversity of Canada’s workforce.
Partner: Purpose Construction Inc.
Canada’s housing sector has a shortage of affordable homes and a shortage of skilled construction workers that could be alleviated through more inclusive workforce development. Manitoba-based Purpose Construction is expanding its programs to deliver more affordable housing and at the same time transition equity deserving learners into skilled trades careers. In the longer term, the skills training program seeks to diversify the construction workforce and embed trauma-informed training models across Canada. The goal is to create a social enterprise model that can be replicated to link housing affordability with inclusive workforce development.
Partner: TECHNATION CANADA
The Advanced Digital and Professional Training program has provided practical digital and business skills in Toronto, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver, resulting in employment for 89 per cent of the Indigenous learners who took the program. Now, it is being adapted for Indigenous youth in Manitoba to reduce youth unemployment in northern communities and create stronger pathways to digital and professional careers and entrepreneurship. The program is building a diverse, job-ready talent pool, expanding Indigenous-led workforce models and providing evidence for sustaining inclusive, scalable training across Canada.
Partner: Royal Roads University
British Columbia’s Royal Roads University’s Professional Project Administrator program has demonstrated that remote and blended learning integrated with wraparound supports rooted in community priorities can be successful in skills training for Indigenous learners. The program will now scale training to more communities and transfer leadership for delivery to Indigenous communities.
Partner: University Health Network
Canada’s health workforce is unprepared for the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) as many professionals lack the training to use it safely and effectively. The Toronto-based University Health Network’s framework and education programs are increasing AI literacy, confidence and demand and are now being scaled system-wide and embedded across health care practice and professional development. In the longer-term, the goal is to normalize responsible AI use across health care, reduce inequities and position Canada as a leader in equitable, AI-enabled workforce readiness.
Partner: Guru-link
PathPilot is an AI-powered workforce development platform designed to expand access to personalized career support at scale. Rather than acting as a standalone career tool, PathPilot serves as a shared intelligence layer across the career ecosystem—connecting job seekers, practitioners, employers, and training pathways through real-time data, AI-driven guidance, and collaborative workflows. By augmenting practitioner capacity and embedding directly into existing service delivery models, PathPilot enables organizations to deliver more effective, equitable, and scalable workforce outcomes without requiring significant new infrastructure.