Research Insights

& Key Themes

Our research will help Canadians — including current and future job-seekers, employers, policy makers, service providers, educators and researchers — better understand future skills priorities, knowledge gaps and leading practices, and will help build capacity to address these demands.

The Future Skills Centre strives to be a thought leader in emerging debates about future skills, trends, innovative approaches and the development of an ecosystem that will prepare us for an uncertain future.

It will bring together experts bridging supply- and demand-side perspectives, reflecting the diverse interests and supporting approaches that are both people-centric and employer-informed. This research will help us identify opportunities for systemic change that will contribute to coordinated and focused responses to addressing Canada’s future skills needs.

Learn more about our Research Strategy

Building an Inclusive Workforce

We believe Canada is stronger when everyone has the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from our shared prosperity. That’s why we are committed to an inclusive approach to skills development, with an emphasis on engaging and supporting underserved groups.

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Key

Themes

We aim to build a future-focused, skills innovation hub in Canada to help prepare workers and employers for ongoing labour market changes. We are constantly gathering and sharing research and insights about the labour markets of today and tomorrow.

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Research Resources

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Reference Database

A searchable repository on published research addressing “future skills” that will be a useful tool for researchers and individuals interested in the future of work and the future of skills.

Search the database

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Annotated Bibliography

Intended as a useful tool to researchers in need of initial guidance in future skills, this is a list of 39 key academic and “grey literature” publications.

Get the bibliography

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Research Network

An expanding and diverse group of scholars, experts, practitioners and other stakeholders actively engaged in research on future skills and the future of work.

Search our network

Latest Research

research

Career able: job transitions for Canadians with disabilitiesexternal link icon

Everyone needs career options, including people with disabilities. The Conference Board of Canada, on behalf…
research

Digital Skills for a Future-Ready Worldexternal link icon

We know that digital skills are essential for a strong post-pandemic recovery. But we don’t…
research

Finance and management skills for economic reconciliationexternal link icon

Indigenous skilled labour is critical to realizing a new vision of economic reconciliation where First…
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Career able: job transitions for Canadians with disabilitiesexternal link icon

Everyone needs career options, including people with disabilities. The Conference Board of Canada, on behalf of the Future Skills Centre, is leading a study to support the job transitions of people with disabilities. The study aims to promote labour market retention and career mobility for this equity-deserving group.

Digital Skills for a Future-Ready Worldexternal link icon

We know that digital skills are essential for a strong post-pandemic recovery. But we don’t have a clear picture of the exact digital skills that Canadian employers are looking for. We need to understand these gaps so we can respond with the right tools and training.

Finance and management skills for economic reconciliationexternal link icon

Indigenous skilled labour is critical to realizing a new vision of economic reconciliation where First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities control their economic futures. Indigenous finance, management, and other corporate service professionals have important roles to play as their communities navigate evolving economic relationships to create long-term prosperity.

Bridging the Gap Between Identity and Social and Emotional Skills: Black Canadians’ Perspectives of Social and Emotional Skills in the Workplace

This issue briefing reveals how Black professionals perceive the development, expression, and evaluation of social and emotional skills at work.

Strengthening Social and Emotional Skills in Adults: the Learning Experience at Canadian Collegesexternal link icon

We know that social and emotional skills (SES)—such as communication, collaboration, and leadership—are critical for life success. Yet the bulk of programs that teach SES end after high school. We continue developing SES in adulthood—through informal experiences like employment, co-ops, volunteering, extracurriculars, and caregiving, as well as formal instruction. These skills are important. So how are post-secondary institutions teaching them?

Building bridges: increasing opportunity for Inuitexternal link icon

Industries and public institutions tied to Inuit communities have a responsibility to empower Inuit employment and lead by example. Those that do will also benefit from increased capacity, Inuit expertise, and social investments.

Transforming learning in a pandemic contextexternal link icon

Across Canada, in-person learning opportunities for nursing students became limited or stopped completely at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet learning criteria, nursing programs had to pivot. For example, some expanded the use of virtual simulations and scenarios as an alternative to in-person care in hospitals, long-term facilities, or community-based experiences.

Laying Foundations: Technological maturity in Canada's construction sector

In this report, in collaboration with Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship we reflect on the evidence and next steps needed to support the Canadian construction sector succeed and adapt to change in the years to come.
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