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June 2020 Projects

We’re making a $37 million investment into innovative and community-based programs to find solutions to Canada’s changing workforce

With a strong focus on how we can provide meaningful action for our community’s disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, the Future Skills Centre is investing in 30 new projects to fill employers’ skills gaps and help workers gain in-demand skills in this post-pandemic period.

This $37-million investment into community-based programs focuses on the needs of diverse Canadian workers and employers by exploring innovative approaches to training and upskilling for emerging and in-demand skills.

These 30 projects span all regions of the country and are the result of consultations with stakeholders across Canada’s skills ecosystem. They were selected after an extensive review of hundreds of submissions to a call for proposals we established last year.

With a strong focus on how we can provide meaningful action for Canada’s disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, the projects cover four major themes. 

They range from leveraging people and AI technology, to training, reskilling, and adapting within industries facing chronic skills shortages, to radical new approaches to training and learning in order to build capacity to creating an inclusive workforce for the future by not leaving anyone behind. By applying a rigorous evaluation strategy to all our projects, the Future Skills Centre is keen to work with these partners to help every Canadian succeed in a changing workplace.

Project Listing

Person at computer with someone standing behind them looking at the screen
Project

Best Practice Models for Industry Engagement

First Canadian test of online VALID-8 tool allowing trades apprentices to be objectively assessed by…
Person at an outdoor fruit and vegetable market
Project

Futureproofing the Food and Beverage Processing Workforce

The first systematic testing of a framework to help the food and beverage processing industry…
Employee taking hand-written notes while reading from a computer screen
Project

Assessing and developing workplace employability skills with ESAT

Development of the Employability Skills Assessment Tool (ESAT), a cloud-based tool to measure an individual’s…
Young person in front of Pride flag
Project

What works for work? Employment integration in youth service hubs across Canada

The project implements and tests the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) intervention among youth who…
Scientist looking at specimen through a compound microscope
Project

Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL)

Hub for multiple, industry-focused, and applied learning streams to acquire the academic knowledge, technical skills,…
Person giving whiteboard presentation to a diverse group
Project

Synergy: Workforce Development for Vulnerable Women to Succeed

Synergy is an extension of a three-year research, pilot, and knowledge transfer project aimed at…
Mentor providing learning support to mentee in a classroom.
Project

Bridging the Gap: A Learning Platform and Marketplace for Job-seekers and Employers

A scalable system that assesses competencies (using AI based work-related tasks) and issues micro-credentials to…
Students working together on their laptops
Project

Digital Fluency Stackable Micro-credentials for the Workforce

Development and delivery of a series of three stackable micro-credentials for workers who are disadvantaged…
Miner performing a land survey with machinery behind him.
Project

Microlearning in the Mining Industry

Remote mine employees will learn on-the-job via mobile micro-learning, for a few minutes each day,…
Surgeons operating wearing VR headsets
Project

Accelerating the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare

Shifting the mindset and educating healthcare professionals in the effective, appropriate, safe, and compassionate use…
Woman standing at a counter and working on their laptop
Project

Facing the challenge of digital transformation in the insurance sector: women at work

Action research project on the future of female workers facing the automation of tasks in…
Person giving a whiteboard presentation to a group
Project

Career Advancement for Immigrant Professionals 2.0

Help underemployed immigrant professionals overcome barriers to career advancement and help employers retain and leverage…
Forklift operator moving a pallet of goods
Project

Material Handling 4.0: Building pathways to employment for disadvantaged groups

Help new and current material handlers in Hamilton to transition to new job opportunities within…
Standing person leaning in to help a seated person
Project

Reboot Plus Expanded

First-of-its-kind program in Canada will help youth who haven’t finished high school to re-engage in…
Diverse youth working on laptop; person leaning in to provide support
Project

Upskilling Canadian youth for in-demand tech careers

Launching low-income, young adults into IT careers by providing professional and technical skills training, job…
Two energy workers handling large machinery
Project

Skills Match – The Energy Fit

To assist unemployed/underemployed oil and gas workers to transition to more in-demand energy sector jobs.
Three Indigenious women smiling and sitting in front of a laptop in a cafe setting.
Project

The Indigenous Employment Hub

The Indigenous Employment Hub can help meet labour needs for future (infrastructure) projects in B.C.…
Standing care worker leaning in to smile at senior seated on a couch
Project

Scaling up the Canadian Remote Access for Dementia Learning Experiences (CRADLE+)

The first, fully-online, multilingual education opportunity specifically designed for historically isolated, unregulated care workers.
Indigenous Canadian using a mobile device
Project

Project Connect: Technology-enabled learning for Métis communities

Project Connect will design and test an online delivery model for a professional project administrator…
Breakdancer on the dance floor surrounded by a diverse audience
Project

ArtWorksTO

ArtWorksTO will connect motivated, job-ready youth with clients in need of creative talent.
IVADO Training Program with its academic collaborators
Project

From data to decision: AI training and professional certification

Short-term AI-focused training intended primarily for mid-career professionals wanting to integrate new AI knowledge into…
Diverse team on laptops having a group meeting
Project

AspireAtlantic

Creating a program to bridge the gap between employer demand and workforce attachment in Nova…
Manufacturing worker operating equipment
Project

Pay-for-Performance in Manufacturing

Encourage Canadian manufacturers to invest in training programs that address specific skills gaps among their…
Person wearing blue hard hat and smiling
Project

Virtual recruitment & assessment for the unionized construction industry

Project to create a virtual recruitment and assessment centre in four regions across Canada to…
Overhead view of group of Indigenous people smiling
Project

Upskill and certify Indigenous child and youth practitioners

Create innovative educational opportunities that reduce barriers to Indigenous peoples’ participation and increase the number…
Presenter in front of a slide entitled
Project

Workplace Inclusion Charter Expansion

Connect under-utilized talent pools with local employers in Kingston through the implementation of the Workplace…
Hands gesticulating in front of open laptop; person on laptop in background
Project

InTeRN: a young, northern workforce enters the world of ICT

A two-year network computer technology program geared to providing entry level skills and supports to…
Computer screen showing equipment eLearning module
Project

Tech-enabled learning programs for the mining industry

Project will be three two-week unique, demand-driven, and blended-learning training programs using VR, eLearning, simulations…
Person at whiteboard presenting to an individual with laptop
Project

In Motion & Momentum+ (IM&M+): Building resilience, hope and sustainable futures

This program assists people who are distant from the labour market in acquiring key life…
Project

Skills Development in SMEs for Faster Adaptation to Job Market Changes

To speed up the pace of organizational buy-in to a culture of continuing education and…
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