Future Skills
Future skills – basic literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills – are important across all economic sectors and occupations. Figuring out who and how to address skills gaps is key to building an inclusive workforce with upward mobility.
Research
Rising Skills: Digital Skills Needs for Smart and Connected Vehicles
As the automotive industry shifts toward smart and connected vehicles, tradespeople who service cars, trucks, heavy duty equipment, and other vehicles will need stronger digital competencies. This briefing looks at how stakeholders in the automotive sector can reduce barriers to digital upskilling for both apprentices and journeypersons.
Research
Rising Skills: A Toolbox Talk on Social and Emotional Skills in the Construction Trades
This report looks at the social and emotional skills that construction tradespeople will need to participate in an industry that is becoming increasingly multi-generational and diverse.
Research
Learning Together: STEM Outreach Programs for Indigenous Students
In Learning Together: STEM Outreach Programs for Indigenous Students, we were interested in free STEM programs, not run by the formal education system, that target Indigenous children in Kindergarten to Grade 12. We surveyed these programs across Canada to learn more about how they reach Indigenous youth.
Research
Measuring Social and Emotional Skills
Social and emotional skills (SES) play a critical role in the success of individuals and organizations. But, until now, there has been no comprehensive and integrated resource to identify and compare SES measurement tools. We released a new resource for users to measures social and emotional skills in adolescents and adults
Research
Competency Frameworks and Canada’s Essential Skills
Whether it's new technology or global events driving the pace of change, Canadians are being asked to adapt in the workplace. Canada needs an essential skills framework that includes and looks beyond simple literacy and numeracy. It needs to include the 'soft skills' that industry leaders say are key to success and other essential skills that will help Canadians adapt, no matter what comes their way. Each needs to be measured and tracked to ensure Canadians remain globally competitive, and this paper argues that renewing Canada’s Essentials Skills framework is the place to start.
Research
Curriculum and Reconciliation: Introducing Indigenous Perspectives into K–12 Science
Curriculum and Reconciliation: Introducing Indigenous Perspectives into K–12 Science briefly and visually outlines the landscape of school science curricula across the country. Several jurisdictions integrate Indigenous content, perspectives, and ways of knowing, while others have yet to include references to Indigenous perspectives.
Podcast
Season 1 | Episode 4
Upskilling and Reskilling (Mid-Career Workers)
Reskilling and upskilling are now imperative for both employees and organizations to keep pace with the digital and technological innovations that are changing the way...
Featuring: Heather McIntosh, Glenda Quintini, Sashya D’Souza, Karn Singh
Podcast
Season 1 | Episode 3
Skilled Trades—Transitioning to a Digital, Green, and Human Future
Apprenticeships get a bad rap. All too often, we perpetuate negative images of the trades: dirty, low pay, and boring. These stereotypes couldn’t be further...
Featuring: Heather McIntosh, Andrew Bieler, Jeff Ranson , Jim Szautner
Podcast
Season 1 | Episode 1
Developing Social and Emotional Skills in an Automated World
We’ve all heard it before: Technology is disrupting the world of work, eliminating “low skill” jobs and harming the future of the trades. Daunting? Sure....
Featuring: Heather McIntosh, Steve Higham, Maria Giammarco, Paul Brinkhurst , Jennifer Adams





