Skilled Trades
Research
Best Practices for Advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Manufacturing
While research underscores the challenges in the manufacturing sector, considerable gaps exist in our understanding of the representation and barriers women and other equity-deserving groups face. This report draws upon Statistics Canada data, surveys, industry reports and publicly available resources to provide an overview of the current state and strategic challenges, and their intersection with EDI issues.
Project
The Autonomous Microfactory: Skills Development Training Program
In the early stages of the COVID pandemic, many manufacturing processes had to shut down due to the lockdowns and the need for social distancing. The Creative Technology Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)—a microfactory manufacturing model—intended to address these challenges and allow production to continue and adapt.
Project
Skills Match — The Energy Fit
The Skills Match—The Energy Fit project had the broad goal of addressing the skills gap in Canada’s energy industry by using innovative tools, namely virtual reality (VR) technology and an interactive website, to facilitate career transitions.
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.
Project
Workforce 2030: Rapid Upskilling for Green-Building Occupations
By 2030, the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) estimates that with the appropriate framework and investments in place, the Canadian green-building industry could support approximately 1.5 million direct jobs. In Ontario alone, over 100,000 new construction workers are needed in the next 10 years to keep pace with future demand and retirements.
Project
Beyond hours: Piloting an alternative to tracking and understanding apprentice competency in Canada
The persistence of labour and skill shortages within the trades is exacerbated by challenges with on-the-job training and skills recognition. The prevailing methods to document and formally recognize the skills that apprentices acquire through workplace learning are outdated.
Research
Skills and productivity: Which skills shortages are impacting Canadian productivity?
Canada has a productivity problem. Labour productivity growth—the amount of output produced per hour worked—has stalled. The Canadian economy’s labour productivity at the end of 2023 was around the same as it was in 2017. This is the second time that Canada’s productivity growth has been notably weaker than the United States’ in
recent decades, with the first occurring between 2003 and 2012.
Project
Creating a Microlearning Model for the Canadian Mining Industry
Using an existing competency framework from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, and extensive input from front-line workers and supervisors, this project developed 10 microlearning modules and accompanying coaching supports on behaviour-based safety and communication.
Project
Skills Matching and Opportunities in Wood Manufacturing
The Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC), with support from the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC), launched the Skills Matching and Opportunities in Wood Manufacturing project to address the gap between job seekers’ desires for viable and desirable career transitions and the recruitment challenges faced by the wood manufacturing sector.