Calgary Regional WIL Secretariate and Portal 

Work-integrated learning (WIL) gives people the chance to apply the skills they have learned in the classroom while gaining on-the-job experience and pathways to meaningful careers in  emerging, high-demand sectors. 

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Through FSC’s $2.9 million investment, Calgary Economic Development (CED) is developing a one-stop, online portal for WIL opportunities in the region. These paid work placements focus on gaining hands-on experience from industry experts over the course of a student’s academic studies. Placements can be co-ops, internships, applied research projects or field placements.

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This innovative model and central platform will support economic growth and inclusion through WIL for post-secondary students, and will benefit jobseekers, employers and the Alberta economy.This initiative will also make WIL more accessible to non-traditional participants such as mature learners, youth, and organizations not typically connected to post-secondary institutions. 

CED and multiple local stakeholders have come together to form a consortium with technology partners Magnet and Orbis Communications, in order to demonstrate the viability of deploying a regional WIL model and to identify and address issues around broader applicability for communities and regions across Canada. 

This work is immediately contributing to Calgary’s economic transformation, while also providing insights for a more systematic way for employers to collaborate with post-secondary institutions. 

Featured Projects

Project

From Policy to Action: Building Infrastructure for Social and Economic Impact

AnchorTO, established by the City of Toronto in 2015, formed a network with 18 public sector institutions to embed community wealth-building practices into their work, primarily within their procurement strategies.
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Project

Doing It Right

The Doing It Right project, based in the Yukon, sought to address the barriers faced by women and gender-diverse individuals in the skilled trades.
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Research

Aligning Workforce Skills with Quebec’s Future of Work

Skills development in Quebec received a major boost with a three year, $20 million agreement between the Future Skills Centre and the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT). The partnership supported CPMT initiatives that strengthened and adapted workforce capabilities to meet both current and future labour market demands in Quebec. 
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