News & Events
With a major federal investment in the skilled trades earlier this spring, it is time for governments in Canada to pay attention to the nuts and bolts of apprenticeship training, ensuring those who take up the tools to build this country make it to the finish line.
Read More > “Canada has a terrible track record for retaining apprentices in the skilled trades”
As Canada increases its investment in nation-building infrastructure, the success of these projects will depend on a strong pipeline of skilled talent. Polytechnics Canada caught up with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) to discuss how expanding training capacity through its Advanced Skills Centre (ASC) is helping address skilled trades labour shortages.
Peter Leclaire, Vice-President, Academic, and Patti Hergott, Associate Vice-President, Academic Quality & Operational Excellence, explored the evolving role of polytechnic institutions in preparing the next generation of trades professionals.
Polytechnics are key to bridging industrial needs with cutting-edge research and talent development in Canada’s manufacturing sector. Sheridan’s session at the 2026 Polytechnic Showcase, Bridging the Productivity Gap: Scalable AI-Robotics Integration through Collaboration, highlighted how AI-driven automation can resolve production bottlenecks while training the next generation of engineers.
Polytechnics Canada connected with Dr. Ethan Shen, Research Manager, Centre for Intelligent Manufacturing, Dr. El Sayed Mahmoud, Professor of Computer Science, and Madushen Paramanathan, Student Research Assistant, to learn more about the polytechnic-industry partnership between Sheridan and Rex Power Magnetics.
National defence, industrial capacity and innovation policy are increasingly connected. New federal commitments aim to capitalize on an investment in defence to build a stronger R&D ecosystem, drive domestic production and create opportunities to grow exports while supporting Canadian jobs. The opportunity is significant, but so is the challenge – Canada must overcome weak business innovation, lagging productivity and a persistent gap between discovery research strengths and lagging real-world adoption.
Polytechnics Canada’s recommendations include:
Innovation is, at its core, about the people who solve problems, find new approaches and drive value creation. This makes it essential to focus on developing and deploying talent, especially at a time when Canada is rewriting its trade, defence and infrastructure story for the next century.
Canada is entering a period that will be defined by its ability to deliver on national priorities. Significant federal investments in housing, infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) and defence set an ambitious course for the country’s future. The challenge will be to activate capacity in every corner of Canada to ensure investments translate into tangible outcomes.
Polytechnics Canada’s recommendations include:
Imagine two countries facing the same threat. Both know the technology will evolve quickly and the first solution will be incomplete. One spends years refining requirements and waiting for certainty. The other gets a workable first version into testing, learns with users, fixes what matters and moves again. A few years later, the second country usually has the stronger position. It has a better tool, stronger suppliers, sharper operators, better data and a clearer sense of what should come next. In defence, capability often grows through movement. That lesson matters for Canada.
Read More > “Reliable short-term capability will deliver long-term defence strength”
Polytechnics help advance defence innovation in Canada by translating strategy into action: developing skilled talent, validating technologies and strengthening industry readiness for real-world deployment. As a NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) test centre, Saskatchewan Polytechnic is one of many polytechnics advancing Canada’s contribution to allied defence innovation.
Looking back on the 2026 Polytechnic Showcase, Polytechnics Canada spoke with Dr. Terry Peckham, Director and Research Chair of Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Digital Integration Centre of Excellence (DICE). Read to learn more about how the institution is strengthening Canada’s role in defence innovation.
Skilled tradespeople have always played a leading role in shaping Canada.
They’ve built, modified and maintained infrastructure that houses us, keeps us safe and makes it possible for us to have an advanced and diverse economy for generations.
Yet, somehow, we’ve failed to communicate this to young people at the family dinner table, in primary, middle and secondary school classrooms, at virtually any point of influence when discussing post-secondary education options.
