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

2020 – Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2021 Federal Budget

Key recommendations include:

  1. 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
  2. Empower Canadians to rapidly retrain and upskill by providing financial support and navigation to short-cycle training programs focused on career-relevant skills
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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

2020 – House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development & the Status of Persons with Disabilities study on the Impact of COVID-19

Key recommendations include:

  1. Invest in Canada’s post-secondary infrastructure to ensure training can occur in an environment that responds to physical distancing and other safety protocols while also supporting green retrofits
  2. Support the digital adaptation of learning and training in Canada, enabling learners who will face challenges to in-person instruction and ensuring applied learning can be delivered in a broad range of new ways
  3. Empower Canadians to retrain and upskill at this critical juncture by offering all Canadian Emergency Response Benefit recipients a one-time boost to the Canada Training Benefit
  4. Enable the business- and innovation-enhancing services available at Canada’s polytechnics, ensuring they are positioned to support Canada’s small- and medium-sized enterprises and deliver meaningful, real-world work-integrated learning opportunities to learners

2020 – House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance study on the Impact of COVID-19

Key recommendations include:

  1. Invest in Canada’s post-secondary infrastructure to ensure training can occur in an environment that responds to physical distancing and other safety protocols while also supporting “green” retrofits
  2. Support the digital adaptation of learning and training in Canada, enabling learners who will face challenges to in-person instruction and ensuring applied learning can be delivered in a broad range of new ways
  3. Empower Canadians to retrain and upskill at this critical juncture by offering all Canadian Emergency Response Benefit recipients a one-time boost to the Canada Training Benefit
  4. Enable the business- and innovation-enhancing services available at Canada’s polytechnics, ensuring they are positioned to support Canada’s small- and medium-sized enterprises
  5. Support the expanded participation of industry and non-profit partners in polytechnic applied research, ensuring all enterprises in Canada have the support they need to survive and thrive