March 9, 2023 Ottawa, ON Employment and Social Development Canada
Today's job market is ever-changing. Many workers are without the necessary skills to meet on-the-job demands and employers are struggling to find employees to fill vacancies. To ensure that Canadians get the skills they need to succeed in the workforce of today, the Government of Canada is investing in projects that will help Canadians improve their foundational and transferable skills so they can find and keep employment.
Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, alongside Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier, Mona Fortier, announced over $11.4 million in funding to Collège La Cité through the Skills for Success Program. With this investment, Collège La Cité will work in partnership with Collège Éducacentre in British Columbia, Collège Mathieu in Saskatchewan, Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, SkyHive, Essential Skills Group and La Factry to implement the project "Les compétences pour réussir pour une relance économique efficace." This project will provide Canadians with skills training opportunities to help them meet current job demands and will include the development of nationally available online assessment tools and training resources for skill learning.
This investment will respond to Canada's immediate and long-term training needs, particularly for under-represented groups in the labour market, including francophone minority communities and francophone newcomers. This project is expected to provide 2,898 participants in three provinces with access to skills assessment tools and to contribute an estimated 735 job training opportunities, helping deliver on the Government's commitment to create 500,000 new training and work opportunities for Canadians.
Launched in May 2021, the Skills for Success Program focuses on nine main skills that Canadians need to participate, adapt and thrive in learning, work and life. They include foundational skills, like writing, reading and numeracy, and socio-emotional skills-the human skills required for effective social interaction, such as collaboration, communication, problem solving, adaptability, creativity and innovation.
