Meeting the Moment: Targeted Investments in Skilled Trades, Youth Employment, and a Resilient Workforce
TORONTO, March 5, 2026 /CNW/ - As Canada faces critical labour shortages in key industries, the Future Skills Centre (FSC) is announcing a $5.5 million investment to build a strong, resilient workforce that can drive Canada's productivity and long-term economic prosperity. Through the Replicate initiative, funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills Program, FSC is widening access to proven training solutions to help more Canadians, particularly youth and those facing barriers to employment, find stable jobs and navigate a changing economy.
By replicating proven models to new places, FSC ensures that success in one setting can be replicated elsewhere. This approach provides local implementation partners with "toolkits" based on an existing evidence base, allowing them to spend less time on program development and more time providing direct support to participants – helping more people in more places, more quickly. Read FSC's Why Replication Matters blog for more details.
This investment expands three programs that prioritize training in workplace readiness skills essential for the jobs of today and tomorrow:
- Construct (Building Careers in the Trades): Creates paid, hands-on skilled trades pathways into construction careers for equity-deserving groups, by embedding skilled trades training with wraparound supports.
- Founding Partner: Blue Door Support Services (ON)
- Implementation Partners: Ottawa Community Housing Foundation (ON) and Trellis Society for Community Impact (AB).
- Reboot+ (Helping Youth Find Their Path): Strengthens school-to-work transitions for young people facing complex barriers by offering an inclusive model that blends career exploration and post-secondary exposure.
- Founding Partner: Douglas College (BC)
- Implementation Partners: Fanshawe College (ON) and College of the North Atlantic (NL).
- In Motion and Momentum+ (Moving into the Workforce): Supports people on social assistance and who are distant from the labour market find meaningful work by teaching foundational and workplace readiness skills.
- Founding Partner: Canadian Career Development Foundation (ON)
- Implementation Partners: The Governments of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island, and the Corporation of the City of Windsor.
These projects illustrate what Replicate is designed to do: take approaches backed by evidence and make them accessible to more Canadians, rather than letting them remain siloed in a single community.
Quotes
"Addressing Canada's labour market challenges requires more than just investment. It requires a smarter approach to how we deploy solutions. By replicating training programs that work and eliminating the lag time between research and results, we can build a workforce and a nation that's resilient by design and ready for what comes next. This is our vision for Canada."
-- Noel Baldwin, Executive Director, Future Skills Centre
"When we invest in Canadian workers, we invest in Canada's future. Through the Future Skills Centre, we're opening doors for tomorrow's workforce by expanding skills training and real work opportunities for young people and underrepresented workers in key areas of need across Canada. As the world is rapidly changing, building Canada strong means equipping workers with the tools they need to succeed today, and the confidence to lead tomorrow."
-- The Honorable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario.
Quick Facts
- A significant gap between available skills and those needed for the future economy cost the Canadian economy $2.6 billion in 2024.
- Canada needs to recruit more than 250,000 new construction workers under the age of 30 by 2035 to offset an aging population.
- Youth unemployment reached a 15-year high (14.7%) in September 2025, leaving labour market potential untapped as the country's population ages.
- Employers increasingly need social and emotional skills that cannot be replaced by technology or AI.
- Since 2019, FSC has invested over $309 million to research labour market trends and test new approaches to skills training to build a resilient workforce.
About FSC
The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is a forward-thinking centre for research and collaboration dedicated to driving innovation in skills development so that everyone in Canada can be prepared for the future of work. We partner with policymakers, researchers, practitioners, employers and labour groups, and post-secondary institutions to solve pressing labour market challenges and ensure that everyone can benefit from relevant lifelong learning opportunities. We are founded by a consortium whose members are Toronto Metropolitan University, Blueprint, and Signal49 Research, and are funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills Program.
SOURCE The Future Skills Centre
Media Contact: Annamaria Nunziata, Communications Manager, Future Skills Centre, [email protected], 647-242-6156
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