Getting back to sunny ways: The role of education in Canada’s new agenda
This week brought a buzz to Ottawa that was absent for most of the summer. On Wednesday afternoon, the Governor General delivered the Speech from the Throne, outlining the government’s agenda for the foreseeable future and formally opening the second session of the 43rd Parliament. A few hours later, the Prime Minister delivered a prime-time address to reiterate this plan and speak to the collective public health efforts required in the weeks and months to come. In the best of times, this would be a moment of excitement and new beginnings. But, of course, these are not those times.
Read More > “Getting back to sunny ways: The role of education in Canada’s new agenda”
Pandemic recovery offers opportunity to get short-term skills training right
The rebuilding of the Canadian economy in the wake of the pandemic is an opportunity – even an obligation – to finally get short-term skills training right. And on a massive scale.
Read More > “Pandemic recovery offers opportunity to get short-term skills training right”
Building Talent for Canada’s Frontline
The critical role of Canada’s frontline workforce has never been more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic. In industries like healthcare and emergency response, technology, agriculture and construction, Canadians rely on the essential workers who keep the country fed, functioning, safe and healthy. When it comes to developing the skills of Canada’s frontline workforce, polytechnics are the post-secondary institutions feeding this talent pipeline.
Preparing Canada’s frontline workforce is no easy task. Training essential workers requires developing a combination of skills, techniques and knowledge that prepare students to respond to dynamic workplace realities. An applied, hands-on approach to learning that is aligned with sector-specific needs includes workplace experience, simulation, virtual and augmented reality, and practice.
In this publication, learn more about the credentials, programs and professional development opportunities that contribute talent to our frontlines by:
- Keeping Canada healthy
- Keeping Canada safe
- Keeping Canada fed
- Keeping Canada connected
Back to school in a pandemic: A student perspective
The COVID-19 pandemic has created complex challenges across nearly every facet of society, students included. As the pandemic emerged through the spring and kept its grip into the summer, there has been no shortage of emotional and financial turbulence. In March, post-secondary students experienced the panic of packing up and storing their possessions at a moment’s notice when residences and campuses shut down. The summer has proven difficult for many financially; students who thought they had summer jobs had placements postponed or eliminated. As we look toward fall, the turbulence has yet to abate.
Read More > “Back to school in a pandemic: A student perspective”
2020 – Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2021 Federal Budget
Key recommendations include:
- Create Economic Recovery Hubs hosted at Regional Development Agencies with a view to enabling small- and mid-sized businesses to enhance their productivity and innovation potential with the support of local innovation intermediaries
- Empower Canadians to rapidly retrain and upskill by providing financial support and navigation to short-cycle training programs focused on career-relevant skills
- To ensure talent pipeline continuity for frontline occupations, invest in the digital learning infrastructure required for the delivery of remote, simulated and hybrid hands-on training
- Relaunch the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, building in flexible project eligibility criteria to enable both new construction and green retrofits, the repurposing of existing buildings, and health & safety-related transformations required to keep campuses safe, innovative and sustainable
- Introduce a Technology Access Grant within the Canada Student Loan Program to address equity of access to the hardware, software and broadband internet required for postsecondary education delivered in remote and hybrid formats