Funding will support the creation of up to 84,000 student work-integrated learning opportunities for Canadian post-secondary students by 2023–24
TORONTO, July 25, 2019 /CNW/ - When post-secondary students get the chance to learn on the job, they build career skills, gain real-world experience and forge the connections that help them get great jobs when they graduate. The Government of Canada plays an important role in helping provide such opportunities to young Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Yet this work cannot be done alone. We need to work with business, educational institutions, third-party education delivery agents, and foundations to create a stronger workforce that responds to what Canadian businesses need to scale up and grow.
Today, during a panel discussion at the George Brown College Chef School, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced that the Government will invest $17 million to support the work of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER). The Minister also called on Canadian businesses to create more work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities for students.
BHER will create 44,000 WIL opportunities per year by 2021–22. It will achieve this by engaging businesses of all sizes as well as organizations in Canada that have not offered student positions before. BHER will support these businesses and organizations by providing them with tools—including cost-of-WIL calculators, partnership guides and evaluation mechanisms—to help them understand the value of WIL, as well as information on how to find candidates with the skills they need.
As part of Budget 2019, the Government of Canada committed to ensuring, within 10 years, that every young Canadian who wants a work-integrated learning opportunity can get one. Over the last four years, the Government has made real progress toward building Canada into a nation of innovators, recognizing that it is the skills and creativity of our people that create opportunities and grow our economy.
Canada is well positioned to be a world leader in work-integrated learning. Since 2015, the Government has invested more than $1.1 billion, including Budget 2019 investments of more than $798 million, to forge new WIL partnerships with innovators, expand the Student Work Placement Program and fund the work of BHER.
Quotes
"Canada's continued prosperity depends on young Canadians getting the education and experience they need to succeed. Young Canadians are talented, ambitious and hard-working; however, making the transition to the workforce can be difficult. When young people gain valuable on-the-job experience, they are better equipped to succeed in the workplace, and that is fundamental to growing our economy and strengthening our middle class for years to come. That is why our government is proud to support the work of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable."
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
"Our government is working to build a skilled labour force in Canada through work-integrated learning. By creating stronger partnerships between business and universities, colleges and polytechnics, we are ensuring employers have the talented people they need and we are setting young Canadians up to succeed in the workforce."
– Jennifer O'Connell, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance (Youth Economic Opportunities)
"At the Business/Higher Education Roundtable, we know how vital skilled young people are to Canada's continued global competitiveness. The commitments made by the Government of Canada recognize that investing in work-integrated learning is a smart move that reaps major rewards: students get hands-on, relevant experience while they learn; employers gain access to the skills and innovation mindset of young talent; and post-secondary institutions build stronger connections with industry and their broader communities."
– Val Walker, Executive Director, Business/Higher Education Roundtable
Quick facts
- Budget 2019 proposed to:
- support the creation of up to 20,000 new student work placements per year by 2021–22 by investing $631.2 million over five years to expand the Student Work Placement Program;
- support the creation of an additional 20,000 work-integrated learning opportunities per year by 2023–24, through partnerships with innovative businesses, by investing $150 million over four years; and
- support the Business/Higher Education Roundtable to act as a convener to bring together key partners to further strengthen the work-integrated learning environment and create an additional 44,000 student work placements per year by 2021–22, through an investment of $17 million over three years.
- Originally launched in 2017, the Student Work Placement Program was already delivering:
- up to 10,000 paid student work placements in science, technology, engineering and math, as well as business fields, helping build stronger partnerships between employers, polytechnics, universities and colleges, through an investment of $73 million over four years (Budget 2016);
- up to 1,000 student work placements in the field of cyber security, as part of the National Cyber Security Strategy, through an investment of $8.3 million (Budget 2018); and
- up to 500 new student work placements in the field of artificial intelligence through an investment of $3 million over three years.
- Under the Student Work Placement Program:
- 3,600 student work placements have been created to date, with 48% of them for first-year students and students from under-represented groups; and
- 1,253 employers—88% of which were small and medium-sized enterprises—and over 130 post-secondary education institutions have participated to offer student work placements across Canada.
- Budget 2017 provided $221 million over five years, starting in 2017–18, to help Mitacs meet its target of creating 10,000 work-integrated learning placements each year for students and graduates by 2021.
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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Dani Keenan, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, 343-291-1710; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]
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