Skills Central

Canada is intent on building things: more roads, pipelines, homes, and large infrastructure projects. To do so, we require coordinated investments from government and private capital in critical drivers such as technology and infrastructure.

Most program evaluations capture short-term results, leaving long-term benefits and the return on public investment unclear. A new partnership links administrative data to track long-term outcomes, value for money, and returns to Canadians.

Canada has no shortage of innovation in skills training; it has a shortage of adoption. Promising skills interventions often remain confined to a single organization, creating a landscape of siloed programs competing for the same resources. Replication offers another option.

There’s a question that keeps coming up in the conversations I’ve had lately with business leaders, policymakers, labour unions, educators, and community builders: how can we join forces to build the big things Canada needs?

The ISET Symposium reinforced that relationship-building between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners is not a one-time activity or a short-term objective. It is an ongoing responsibility that requires humility, reflection, and sustained commitment, with Indigenous partners setting the pace and direction of the work.

Canada is entering a moment that requires us to move together, deliberately and confidently, toward a future shaped by new technologies and new ways of learning.