An initiative led in part by the former Ryerson University and the Conference Board of Canada is taking aim at Canada’s growing skilled-labour shortage and widening skills-to-jobs mismatch by funding 13 projects that will retrain and upskill job seekers.

The Future Skills Centre (FSC), which also includes the non-profit research organization Blueprint, announced a $19-million investment into projects that it says will, “meet evolving workplace demands in a number of key sectors and to include new and diverse labour market participants, particularly those who have been underserved such as women, immigrants, and Indigenous peoples.”

One of the projects aims to attract underrepresented populations – such as women, youth, newcomers, Indigenous peoples, racialized and displaced workers, veterans and low-skilled individuals – to the construction trades.

Through a free online platform that offers resources and career advice, workers and job seekers can explore apprenticeships and careers in the skilled construction trades, as well as connect to online assessments, learning tools and resources, and matching systems for unionized construction work.

The project is being run across the country with the support of Canada’s Building Trades Unions and workforce development programming consultants SkillPlan.

FSC is investing $2.5 million to expand this project, following a previous investment of $2.4 million.

The first phase of the project attracted as many as 4,500 candidates. The next phase of the work will expand the system with a focus on customizing and optimizing user pathways to further engage and attract new populations nationally and regionally.

Economists say skills-related job vacancies are costing the country billions of dollars and leaving half a million jobs unfulfilled. Innovation in skills development is therefore critical for thousands of workers needed in jobs in industries widely affected by skilled labour shortages and that will be key to Canada’s future economic growth. 

The FSC funding will also support programs in information and communications technologies through the University College of the North, and training for frontline health care workers through the University of Western Ontario and Conestoga College.

To date, FSC has helped more than 10,000 Canadians receive hands-on skills training through nearly 200 innovation projects that provide insights or solutions to workforce challenges.