About Us
The Future Skills Centre is dedicated to helping Canadians gain the skills they need to thrive in a changing labour market.
We recognize that Canada’s economy is evolving rapidly as a result of technological, demographic, environmental, and geopolitical change. That change inevitably alters the nature of work—creating new opportunities, but also engendering new threats.
FSC was conceived to address those opportunities and threats by fostering a more responsive skills development ecosystem. Our approach is outlined in our Strategic Plan, which articulates our vision for a more agile, adaptable workforce in Canada.
The Future Skills Centre is constantly looking ahead, gaining and sharing insights into the labour market of today and the future. Together with our partners we inform and support local approaches to skills development and employment training to help Canadians transition in a changing economy.
The Future Skills Centre is a pan-Canadian initiative, connecting ideas and innovations generated across Canada so that employees and employers can succeed in the labour market, and to ensure that local, regional, and national economies thrive.
We aim to help all Canadians benefit from effective skills development, and seek to ensure an inclusive approach to supporting underserved groups such as women, youth, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, racialized peoples, LGBTQ2S+ peoples, persons with disabilities, veterans, and Canadians living in rural, remote, and Northern communities.
Strategic Plan
The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is a pan-Canadian organization passionate about creating a future in which everyone has life-long access to high-quality career advice and learning opportunities. To that end, we have created a Strategic Plan that outlines our approach to strengthening the skills development ecosystem in Canada.
Community of Practice
Our Community of Practice is a virtual space that brings together practitioners in the skills-training ecosystem. Researchers, employment and training service providers and anyone interested in skills development are welcome to join!
Mission
We focus on strengthening Canada’s skills development ecosystem so that Canadians can look to a future of meaningful and relevant lifelong learning opportunities.
Vision
Canada is a resilient learning nation, backed by an agile and responsive skills ecosystem, that equips everyone with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing economy and share in Canada’s prosperity.
How We Work
In our work, we follow five principles: agility, collaboration, inclusion, excellence, and impact.
We are curious about the changes happening around us and strive to test, adapt, evaluate and learn from what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to skills development innovations.
We seek to add value and complement the innovation ambitions of our partners and stakeholders in the skills development ecosystem.
We believe Canada is stronger when everyone has the opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, our shared prosperity, so we focus on addressing systemic barriers affecting underserved populations.
We set a high bar for our work from research to partnership development, and add value through our investments in prototypes, the rigour of our approach to evaluation and evidence, and our ability to share what we learn.
We are future-oriented and seek to create knowledge beyond “what we already know” through our mandate to test and evaluate new and innovative approaches to skills development.
Our commitment to excellence and accountability
We adhere to the highest standards of financial accountability and transparency, earning the trust of everyone in Canada to steward public funds to catalyze skills innovation and training and enable everyone to thrive in an evolving economy.
Our operating budget is holding at 9%, with the vast majority of resources directed to innovations in skills development.
$209M invested since 2020 in partners whose innovations and research are strengthening Canada’s skills ecosystem, including education and skills organizations, sector and industry groups and training institutes.
Annual audits by KPMG confirm the accuracy of our financial statements and the effectiveness of our controls and systems in ensuring we are meeting our contractual obligations.
Consortium partners
Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly known as Ryerson University, is Canada’s leader in innovative, career-oriented education. Urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, it is home to more than 45,300 students, including 2,600 Master’s and PhD students, 3,800 faculty and staff, and nearly 198,000 alumni worldwide.
Blueprint is a non-profit, mission-driven research organization dedicated to improving the social and economic well-being of individuals, families and communities. Working with partners across Canada; Blueprint designs and evaluates strategies to address complex public policy challenges.
The Conference Board of Canada is the country’s leading independent, not-for-profit, applied research organization. For more than 60 years, it has been bringing together people and ideas across disciplines and sectors to address complex issues. Through its trusted research in economic trends, public policy and organizational excellence, and its unparalleled connections, the Board empowers and inspires leaders to build a stronger future for all Canadians.
Advisory Board
The Board provides strategic and forward-looking advice and input to the Centre’s management to support the Centre in delivering on its mandate.
The Diversity Institute is a think and do tank, housed at the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University), focused on advancing inclusive innovation and economic growth. With deep expertise in disruptive technologies, adoption strategies, and innovation processes, it has also focused on new approaches to understanding future skills and meeting employer needs by leveraging diversity and inclusion. Its pioneering work has led to significant changes in policy and practice, and its signature action research projects have developed new models to bridge the skills gap, particularly in the technology sector. The Diversity Institute has also helped develop and assess innovative technologies and tools to advance diversity and inclusion. More recently, it has spearheaded action research on entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic inclusion, and developed incubators focused on meeting the needs of specific populations, including youth facing barriers, women, and immigrants and refugees. Working with partners across sectors and around the world, the Diversity Institute leads the International Innovation and Inclusion Network (IIIN), linking more than 150 researchers, businesses, government and non-profits around the world to examine and share best practices that will help support the work of the FSC-CCF.
Magnet is a digital social innovation platform founded at Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly known as Ryerson University. Magnet’s mission is to accelerate inclusive economic growth for all in Canada by advancing careers, businesses and communities. The Magnet Network includes all relevant stakeholders involved in fostering economic growth and opportunity, including community partners, employers, post-secondary job boards, and job seekers across Canada.
Project Partners
