The landscape for Canadian workers and employers is unlike anything we’ve seen before. From demographic shifts to automation, far too many workers are feeling the impacts of changing labour markets, with some facing the acute threats of precarity, low job quality and limited advancement opportunities. On the demand side, employers report growing gaps between the skills they need and the skills available.
Thankfully, there are countless inspiring organizations across the country rising to the moment with new ideas for training interventions to close the gap. Unfortunately, too many of their programs get stalled at the pilot stage, unable to make the jump to operating at scale. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the “stagnation chasm”—the space where good ideas get stuck before they have a chance to maximize their impact. More attention must be paid to helping organizations grow the impact of their most promising interventions, lifting them out of the stagnation chasm to move them toward meeting demand at scale across Canada.
In order to address Canada’s labour market challenges, Blueprint and the Future Skills Centre have partnered on the Scaling Up Skills Development Portfolio to help our most promising solutions reach communities across Canada. The ten interventions in this portfolio—outlined below—focus on a range of skills development and labour market needs. While each of the partners are at different stages in their scaling journey, they are all innovative, forward-thinking groups committed to meeting the future skills needs of Canadians by leveraging deep subject matter knowledge to offer exciting and creative interventions.
ADaPT helps graduates in arts, social sciences and humanities transition to the workforce by providing technology, literacy and professional skills workshops and skills bootcamps. It is designed and delivered by the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) in partnership with TECHNATION, a national technology industry association that represents Canadian technology companies.
AspireAtlantic bridges the gap between the needs of employers and workers seeking to move from unemployment or low-wage jobs into middle-skilled jobs with advancement opportunities in manufacturing and construction in Nova Scotia. Following a pre-screening, participants take part in career readiness training and occupational skills training for middle skills roles and are then provided with job search supports.
This program creates pathways to economic prosperity for equity-deserving groups in Canada by launching them into meaningful and sustainable digital careers. The program provides free technical and professional skills training and connects participants with some of Canada’s largest employers in the technology sector.
ESAT is designed and administered by Futureworx. It helps trainers and counsellors assess and support the development of their clients’ social and emotional skills. ESAT helps jobseekers understand the expectations of employers and helps them build their skills in a way that aligns with those expectations.
EDGE UP aims to re-skill displaced mid-career oil and gas professionals and help them become re-employed in areas of the technology sector where there are large overlaps between their existing skills and those required. CED is a not-for-profit corporation that works with business, government and community partners to attract business investment, foster trade and grow Calgary’s workforce.
FAST is an online skills assessment and development platform that helps newcomers close skills and accreditation gaps. The program accelerates newcomer integration by proactively working with newcomers before, or soon after, their arrival.
IM&M+ is an action-oriented learning program that supports individuals with pre-employment needs to build foundational skills and identify their strengths and accomplishments as sources of motivation, hope and pride.
Lift/Futur en tête helps youth with mental health needs participate and thrive in a changing economy. It was adapted from the Integrated Placement and Support (IPS) model, that plots a unique path by adopting a “place-then-train” approach instead of focusing on pre-employment training like traditional supported employment.
MH 4.0 helps jobseekers gain skills and micro-credentials needed to launch an entry-level career in the supply chain sector. MH 4.0 is a new program designed by Mohawk College’s City School in response to the fourth industrial revolution (“Industry 4.0”), in which the evolution of disruptive technologies is creating barriers to success for those not participating fully in Canada’s labour force.
This program re-engages youth at risk of not graduating from high school and supports them with exploring a career path they are interested in through training, networking and career exploration. It also aims to address current labour market shortages by increasing employers’ willingness to see the potential of youth with barriers and embrace strategies to support them.
