This Report seeks to understand the current and future impact of key disruptions on employment levels, skill sets and recruitment patterns in different industries and countries. It does so by asking the Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) of today's largest employers to imagine how jobs in their industry will change up to the year 2020-- far enough into the future for many of today's expected trends and disruptions to have begun taking hold, yet close enough to consider adaptive action today, rather than merely speculate on future risks and opportunities. While only a minority of the world's global workforce of more than three billion people is directly employed by large and emerging multinational employers, these companies often act as anchors for smaller firms and local entrepreneurship ecosystems. Therefore, in addition to their own significant share of employment, workforce-planning decisions by these firms have the potential to transform local labour markets through indirect employment and by setting the pace for changing skills and occupational requirements. This Report aims to serve as a call to action. While the implications of current disruptions to business models for jobs are far-reaching, even daunting, rapid adjustment to the new reality and its opportunities is possible, provided there is concerted effort by all stakeholders. By evaluating the future labour market from the perspective of some of the world's largest employers we hope to improve the current stock of knowledge around anticipated skills needs, recruitment patterns and occupational requirements. Furthermore, it is our hope that this knowledge can incentivize and enhance partnerships between governments, educators, training providers, workers and employers in order to better manage the transformative impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on employment, skills and education.

The Essential Adult Skills Initiative (EASI) is an ambitious, large-scale research project undertaken by HEQCO and 20 postsecondary partners, with funding provided by the federal and provincial governments. EASI was designed to measure the literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of incoming and graduating college and university students, and to evaluate the feasibility of administering assessments on a large scale in Ontario's postsecondary sector. In this respect, EASI represents an important first step toward the measurement of learning gain -- the degree to which students' skills change over the course of their program of study -- across multiple postsecondary institutions.EASI's central research questions are as follows: 1. Is the Education and Skills Online assessment a suitable measure of postsecondary students' literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills? 2. Are there observable differences between incoming and graduating students' literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills? 3. What are the practical implications of implementing a project like EASI in a postsecondary institution? How feasible is it to scale up this project to a provincial or national level?

One of the first major attempts to measure employment-related skills in university and college students on a large scale shows that students are experiencing some gains in literacy, numeracy and critical-thinking scores over the course of their undergraduate studies. Yet, one in four graduating students scored below adequate in measures of literacy or numeracy, and less than a third scored at superior levels, according to findings by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO). HEQCO completed two large-scale trials involving more than 7,500 students at 20 Ontario universities and colleges to measure literacy, numeracy and critical-thinking skills in entering and graduating students. The results of the trials are contained in the report On Test: Skills, Summary of Findings from HEQCO’s Skills Assessment Pilot Studies. The first trial, the Essential Adult Skills Initiative (EASI), began in 2016. It administered the Education and Skills Online (ESO), an assessment widely used by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that measures literacy, numeracy and problem-solving abilities of adults using everyday scenarios. More than 4,600 first- and final-year students participated in the pilot. The second trial, the Postsecondary and Workplace Skills (PAWS) project, used the HEIghten Critical Thinking assessment, a test that is designed to evaluate students’ ability to analyze evidence, understand implications and consequences, and develop valid arguments. More than 2,900 students at two institutions participated in the study, which was conducted by the Education Policy Research Initiative at the University of Ottawa in partnership with HEQCO. Together, the two trials aim to get at the heart of the ongoing debate over the skills gap among postsecondary graduates. They also aim to encourage postsecondary institutions to teach, measure and credential skills that are highly sought by employers and the labour market rather than discipline-specific content alone. Non-disciplinary skills are becoming increasingly important in today’s economic climate where many graduates will end up not working in their field of study, and where they can expect to hold several jobs over the span of their careers, argue the authors, Harvey P. Weingarten and Martin Hicks. Even graduates who stay with one employer may find their jobs rapidly evolving. “For these workers, non-disciplinary skills matter just as much and often more so than discipline-specific skills,” they write. “For mid-career workers whose jobs may disappear, the key to successful and speedy re-entry into the labour market is a strong foundation of transferable skills that will help them pivot into a new work environment,” they add. The results of the EASI trial show that final-year students had somewhat higher scores in literacy and numeracy than their first-year counterparts, although there was considerable variation among programs. About 25% of participating students scored at ESO Levels 1 and 2, 45% scored at Level 3 — the minimum required for graduates to perform well in today’s work world — and 25% to 30% scored at Level 4/5, the highest level achievable. The results of the PAWS trial indicated little difference between the test scores of incoming and graduating students in critical-thinking abilities, although it too showed considerable variation among programs. In the second phase of the study, currently underway, researchers will link students’ HEIghten test scores and academic performance with their income tax data to assess the impact that critical thinking has on labour market outcomes. The trials conducted by HEQCO and its partners demonstrate that large-scale testing of employment-related skills across multiple institutions is feasible, Weingarten and Hicks conclude. Based on the findings, HEQCO recommends that such assessments be implemented across all institutions and involve all students, rather than just a sample, and that they be integrated into program requirements.

Persons in all immigration categories and from a wide range of countries establish businesses in Canada. Through investments and business formation, immigrants have become a major source of job creation in this country, and they have higher levels of self-employment than their Canadian-born counterparts. Yet starting a business is challenging, and failure rates are high, both for immigrants and the Canadian-born. As this country increasingly relies on immigration for labour force and population growth, and as almost all new jobs are created by small businesses, it is important to learn more about immigrant businesses and how to help them thrive. To this end, the Winning Strategies for Immigrant Entrepreneurship project (œWise5 for short) built on a partnership of local Workforce Planning Boards in five communities: Hamilton, London, Niagara Region, Windsor, and Waterloo Region including Guelph. To learn about experiences of immigrants in business, we interviewed more than 100 individuals in these communities, including immigrant entrepreneurs, service providers and other persons with knowledge of immigration and business. This report builds on findings from these interviews, from relevant articles and reports, and from primary research into services and supports to identify key business supports and business start-up trajectories that have met with success. It contains recommendations for communities for supporting immigrant businesses and identifies best practices that can be adopted in other regions.

Newcomers to Canada of every immigrant category - including skilled workers, business class, families, and refugees - start and grow businesses in this country. This report brings together existing data, scholarly research, and programs and practices on immigrant self-employment and entrepreneurship with the objective of (1) identifying characteristics of self-employment and entrepreneurship among immigrants, (2) describing the challenges faced by immigrants in starting new businesses, and (3) documenting and describing existing services, programs, and policies available in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for immigrants who are self-employed and entrepreneurs. The report also describes reasons why immigrants start their own businesses, identifies some lessons learned from other jurisdictions in terms of supporting immigrant entrepreneurs, and provides preliminary observations about the efficacy of existing supports for self-employed immigrants, including perceived gaps in services. The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation and Maytree commissioned this study to explore whether self-employment and entrepreneurship is a viable option for lifting new Canadians out of poverty in the Greater Toronto Area, and what role, if any, the foundations may have in supporting this transition. Our interest is new Canadians because they make up a significant proportion of the region's poor and may need unique supports to transition into self-employment or to start a business. Self-employment refers to a specific employment status whereas entrepreneurship encompasses self-employment but also carries with it implications of creating something new and the desire to grow the business beyond a sole proprietorship. This report does not distinguish between these two overlapping categories.

Using data scraped from job postings collected by Burning Glass Technologies from January 2012 to December 2018, this report uncovers the specific digital (skills that involve the use of and/or production of digital technologies) and non-digital (including soft) skills that employers in Canada are seeking. Our aim is to help inform the efforts of policymakers, educators and training organizations, as well as the decisions of students and job seekers looking to understand which skill combinations are likely to serve them best in the job market.

This report closely examines tech workers across Canada and seeks to shed light on Canada’s tech occupations and the diversity and equity within them. Adding almost 200,000 new jobs since 2016, Canada’s highly-skilled tech workers are becoming a major component of Canada’s workforce. Using brand new methodologies and powerful data visualizations, Who are Canada’s Tech Workers? looks to provide a clear and concise resource for anyone looking to learn more about Canada’s tech talent and its growing impact on our economy.

This report is a synthesis of the key messages that emerged from the multidisciplinary panel of experts. It outlines a series policy research priorities and research questions to further explore the role and impact of LMI on Canadians' participation in the labour market. The report concludes with a brief description of potential research projects and methodological approaches best suited to address these research priorities.

Mature women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and trades are increasingly present but face many challenges. This reflection paper originates from discussions and questioning at the Gender Summit 11 in Montréal, in November 2017. It first briefly describes the current situation of women who are not taking the usual linear path from high school to university and professional life. It examines how the current system may overlook their capabilities and highlights the potential that they have to significantly contribute to the Canadian job market and economy. It summarizes the challenges they face and proposes potential avenues for solutions and strategies that may help improve their chances of contributing to Canadian innovation. The data show that mature students are becoming a large part of Canadian higher education institutions and in general have a better graduation rate than students coming directly from high school, or cégep, in Québec. Barriers can be numerous for mature women who are interested in returning to higher education, and include entry requirements and admission criteria, lack or limited support (e.g. financial, childcare, etc.), and marginalisation and negative perceptions. Establishment of networks or support groups for mature women in STEM and trades, as well as changing institutional culture, are among some of the strategies that were put forward in the three round tables that were organized to discuss the issue. It is expected that this reflection/policy paper will help funding agencies, governments and institutions such as colleges and universities to develop solutions for the better inclusion of people (especially women) not following the usual path from high school, or cégep, and universities to careers in STEM.